Mass Effect: Dead Echo
by Thunderfury12124
Summary: What begins as a horrific experience ends with me and my friends forming an elite mercenary squad in the Mass Effect universe. Begins before ME1, but will eventually progress through the game events with Shepard.
1. The End of the Beginning

**Author's Note: Hello ladies, how are you-FANTASTIC. Hehe, ok. I am nervous posting this, I'm not going to lie. I've never written a full on story, much less posted one on the web. I'll get into the inspirations and the like at the end, but a couple quick things. 1: The reason for the title will be revealed later, and it'll be obvious once it does. I bring this up now because you might be wondering why I have the squad name from Bulletstorm in this, so I'm just saying there's a reason. 2: This first chapter may seem to have absolutely nothing to do with Mass Effect. Again, there is a reason for that. It's not a Dead Space story, and it's not a full-on crossover. I will definitly have both DS games in here, and possibly other games, but the ABSOLUTE MAIN focus is Mass Effect. It's NOT a crossover. Now, onwards! **

My name is Joseph Smeltzer, and this is my story. Wow. WOW. That sounds so bad I'm ashamed of even thinking it. I can only imagine the amount of facepalms that sentence brought. But it's true. I have a story. And I should probably get to it before you people get bored of me rambling.

A little background info is in order however. I'm a little over 6 feet tall, thinner than average, 17 years old, and I have short brown hair with a tinge of red, though I never see that tinge, personally. My hair is commonly referred to as a brillo pad due to its wiry nature, and it's also waterproof, or at least extremely water-resistant. A few freckles here and there, glasses, and I'm probably one of the most friendly people you'd ever meet. I do have a short temper though, but I keep it under control. I don't think anybody I know has actually seen me angry. Well, not until what happened. Then anger became a useful intimidation tactic. But I digress. I've got a huge, up-to-date game collection, I know details on basically every game out there. Again, that came in unbelievably handy, especially for my friends that didn't have my knowledge. I had the big next-gen consoles, PS3, 360, Wii. Had. Up until my Dead Echo days. I think it's probably time to get into that story...

The day started off normally. My alarm woke me up with music from iPod, as usual, at 5:45 AM. I got up, got ready for the day, went to school, yadda, yadda, yadda, typical teenage life. A normal day in every way, no reason to think it was anything else. Until English class.

I'm sitting at my desk in the front of the room, trying and failing to pay attention. Don't get me wrong, the teacher's hilarious with his constant bad puns, but the "educational material" is just so boring. I shift around in my seat, throwing a glance to my right to see what my friend Ricky's doing.

Ricky Galvan. Nice guy, unless he's annoyed. Then he starts calling you names behind your back until you're nice to him. From what I've seen, anyway. Pretty typical teen, we only met about a week ago, after the teacher moved his seat next to mine because he talked too much. It's much better having someone to talk to where I sit, I felt like I was exiled or something. I mean, I had a wall to my right before Ricky was moved, and no one to my left. I was on an island! Figuratively speaking. He's of a similar build to me, except with darker hair and skin and more muscles. Football player, which explains it. So I glance over and see that he's rapidly writing down some sort of symbols like he was writing in a different language on a sheet of paper. Come to think of it, they look oddly familiar... I whispered his name, trying to get his attention. His head whirles around to face me, and he has a crazed look in his eyes. That kinda startled me, I'd never seen him like this before. Then he whispered something that utterly terrified me.

"They want our bodies."

I jolt back in my chair. Oh my God. He just quoted Dead Space. And not in the good way. It was the line a woman said in Dead Space: Downfall right before she killed herself to give her body to the necromorphs. Obviously, I know that since my job is full time gamer. My mind instantly placed the symbols he was writing as well. He was writing Unitologist script! The shock of this knowledge opened my eyes. Literally.

I picked my head up off my desk and rubbed my eyes. Wha...? I was dreaming? Really? That must be the first time I'd ever fallen asleep in class. That's when it hits me. The noise.

Or rather, the lack of noise. I lower my hands from my face and open my eyes. The entire classroom was devoid of people. Except me. I slowly stand up out of my desk. I can honestly say this has never happened to me before. It's kinda creepy. I look at the clock mounted on the wall. 11:09._ Ok, so it's not lunch yet...but where IS everybody?_ I'm positive someone would have woken me up if we left to, say, the school library, so why is everyone gone? I start walking towards the exit, and my ears pick up faint conversations from outside. Yes! I'm not alone anymore! I hurry over, grab the door handle, and throw the door open...and freeze at the sight in front of me. My jaw drops to the floor. My class, along with other nearby classes, are crowded around a crater I guess is about 10 feet or so in diameter, and sitting right in the middle of it, steaming from the heat radiating off it in the cold weather, is the Red Marker from Dead Space.

This is impossible. No way. I have to still be dreaming. I turn and smash my forehead against the side of the door frame, krogan-style. No, I'm definitely not dreaming. I walk outside towards the crowd, rubbing my sore head. I notice the police officer that visits occasionally is here, I'll have to warn him about necromorphs in a moment. His gun is probably the most useful tool in this school for killing necros right now, since I highly doubt this school has chainsaws lying around. I see Ricky standing in the middle of the crowd, the same dumbfounded look on his face that's on everyone else's. I walk up next to him, still staring at the Marker.

"How did this get here?", I ask. He doesn't even look at me, just answers me like I was there the whole time.

"It just...crashed down. One minute it was here, the next..." Well, thanks for that. Very helpful, Ricky.

It seemed that nobody wanted to step into the crater, but that's kind of understandable. I wouldn't want to go near a giant rock that "crashed down" in the middle of school either. I decided to go have a word with the police officer about the Marker, I thought it would be a pretty good idea to warn him about what might happen if necromorphs showed up. I don't see how they would though, since there's no dead bodies around.

I sidle up next to him and try to get his attention. "Officer?" He turns his head away from the Marker and fixes me with a blank stare. Little weird, but I can live with it. "Listen, I have some inform-"

"They want our bodies."

It takes a moment for his words to sink in. "...What did you just say?" He repeats his statement with the same expressionless face.

"They want our bodies." His hand reaches down towards his pistol holster. My eyes widen as I realize what he intends to do. "No. No no no nonononono!"

I reach out a hand to try to stop him, but it's too late. He yanks the gun from its holster, flicks off the safety, places the barrel under his chin, and pulls the trigger in one fluid motion. The bullet punched through the top of the officer's skull, bringing flecks of blood, brain, and bone along with it. Everyone in the crowd screams in terror, but I barely notice. The shock of a person committing suicide like that in front of you makes you numb to the world around you. The sound of a bullet being fired less then two feet away from you has the same effect.

I stand motionless, my brain attempting to process what had just happened. _He pulled out a gun, and shot himself. He killed himself. He's dead. Dead. Dead body. Dead Space. Oh God! _I burst into motion, trying to drag his body to the crater surrounding the Marker so he was in the dead space, meaning he wouldn't turn into a necromorph. Of course everyone around me tried to stop me.

"What are you doing?" "Get off him!" "Let the dead lie!"

They all start trying to pull me off him. "Let go of me! I have to get him into the dead space around the Marker!" A particularly strong teacher then hoisted me into the air and began carrying me off. "I have to do this! You don't know what you're doing!" I look back at the body, and see it already thrashing about, mutating into a necromorph. _The infection doesn't spread that quickly! Not unless you're killed by an infector!_ I began yelling as loud as I could. "Look at the body! Look! LOOK!" My pleas were simply ignored, and I watched in horror as I saw the fully mutated beast struggling to rise up from the ground. All eyes were focused on me, so nobody witnessed the...puker? _A puker? Really? It couldn't be simple, could it? This day keeps getting better and better! _The puker let out an inhuman groan, and the crowd fell silent. Instantly.

The crowd stood motionless as the puker struggled to its feet, dripping blood and...puke, I guess. It rose to its normal slouched over height and regarded the crowd, letting out quiet gurgles. I closed my eyes and waited for the screaming to start.

The puker moved with startling speed, grabbing a young girl next to him and began spewing acidic vomit all over her face. The crowd exploded into a panic as the girl screamed in terror and agony. The man carrying me dropped me to the floor, and I turned my head away as he ran to try to save the girl. Seeing someone die that way in a game is ok, but real life... I shook my head, clearing my mind of those thoughts. _There'll be time later to let these feelings get to you. If there is a later. _I stood up and found Ricky staring in shock at the scene behind me. The girl was still screaming, and I didn't want to find out why. I grabbed Ricky's shirt and began hauling him off in the direction of the fleeing crowd.

"Ricky, listen to me. I know what we're dealing with here, and I can find a way for us to get out of this, but you have to do what I say, ok?" He nodded like a bobblehead. "Ok, follow me." I took off running, my new destination in mind.

As I ran, that stupid little voice in the back of my head decided to make an appearance. _You'll never survive. You know what happened on the Ishimura and the Sprawl, there were no survivors. _Issac survived, I thought. I intend to be like him. And I ran on, with Ricky in tow, to retrieve Alex Herrel.

Alexander Herrel. My best friend since 7th grade, even if he did have a psychopathic penchant for violence. If there was ever a human who was more like a krogan, it was him. If that krogan had the physical strength and endurance of the Pillsbury dough boy. Alex isn't overweight, but he looks like he's pushing it. He's got messy brown hair he always hides under a hat, and wears black, thick-rimmed glasses. They always seem weird when compared to my elite Silhouette Titan frames with Transition lenses, which remind me of Albert Wesker every time I put them on. Alex is about 6 inches or so shorter than me, and he spends most of his time the same way I do, playing games. He's the only friend I know of other than myself who's beaten both Dead Space games, which is exactly why I'm going to make sure he stays alive. Our knowledge would help immensely as I help the people I feel I need to save. Also, I've never seen a fat...chubby necromorph, and I don't intend to today.

I rushed up to the door of Alex's class, and forced it open, totally smashing some poor kid in the face. I feel a pang of guilt as I watch him hit the floor, but I've got other more important things to worry about.

"Just what do you think you're doing here?", a female voice calls from across the room. Great, like I needed this.

I point to Alex, who's sitting in his chair like he's pretending he's not there, and say "I'm here for him, and it's kinda urgent." His teacher, who had no idea of what had happened moments ago that caused a mass panic, stood and stared. "And what gives you the right to barge into my class, injure one of my students, and demand another come with you?" I opened my mouth to respond when the school-wide intercom activated.

I could hear screams and growls in the background of where this announcement was taking place, and I lowered my head. _God, this is a nightmare. It's exactly like the Sprawl, except it's real..._ A clearly terrified woman began speaking. "Everyone, evacuate the school! Evacuate the school immediately!" Then, in typical horror style, a necromorph could clearly be heard, and the woman screamed along with the rest of the class just as the intercom went dead. I looked back at Alex's teacher.

"That gives me the right."

The class leaps out of their seats and practically tramples me on their way out the door. God, I come to warn them, and this is how they repay me? I haul myself up off the floor and find Alex standing next to Ricky. I turn to face Alex and begin speaking.

"I don't have time for questions, so we're doing the quick version. The Marker's here, and it's unleashed necromorphs. According to Dead Space: Martyr and Downfall, if we can get close to the Marker, then the necros can't reach us. It's a safe zone, understand?" He quickly nodded.

"Good. Now, Ricky, you don't have the experience we do, so I want you to go back to the Marker and get as close to it as you can, ok? They can't hurt you if you're close to it. So get there fast, I want to go see if a few other friends are ok, so Alex and I'll be right there. Go. Go!" He nods once and dashes out the door. I follow him out and pull out my iPhone to make a call.

Alex jogs next to me as I run with my phone to my ear. I was trying to get in touch with another friend of mine, Jake Albright. I had met him, Timothy Ta, and Evon Ramirez last semester in a computer graphics class. I now consider the 3 of them to be the guys I'd go out drinking with. If we could drink. Aside from Timmy, who was seen as a crazy muscular super Asian ninja by me and the other guys, Jake and Evon were similar to Ricky and I in build, except Evon had short black hair, and was the suave ladies man, even if he didn't believe that himself. Jake was quite possibly the coolest guy I've ever met, he's got crazy basketball skills, knows how to work with computers, and he's an awesome friend. So it was my mission to get the three of them and make a dash for the Marker. It'd be the only safe place in a town rapidly becoming infested with necromorphs.

Jake FINALLY answered his phone after I called him five times. "Joe!"

"Shut up, Jake! I know things are crazy, but I'm coming to get you. Where are you?" It sounded fairly quiet on Jake's end, which was a good sign. At least he found a hiding place.

"I'm in a classroom, hiding from those things. Aren't those the monsters from Dead Space you showed me?" I took a deep breath, then let it out as I stood in an open area, twirling my head around, searching for necros.

"Yeah, they are. Listen, can you get outside the G building quickly? There's a safe zone there."

"How are monsters from a game in-"

"Now is really not the time! Answer the question!" There was a moment of silence on Jake's end, presumably him checking out his surroundings.

"Yeah, I can be there in 2 minutes." I let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank God. Ok, now where are Evon and Timmy? I'm going to get them too."

"Do you have their numbers," Jake asked.

"Only Timmy's. Please tell me you have Evon's."

"Yeah." _YES! This might actually work!_ I took a moment to think of my next move.

"Ok, ok. I'll call Timmy, you call Evon. We'll meet up in the middle of the campus, alright?"

"Got it, Joe." I took a quick glance around.

"Be careful out there, Jake. The screams are dying down, which means either people are getting away, or the necromorphs are killing off the survivors. Either way, it's bad for us. I gotta call Timmy, but meet with Evon, then get to us. ASAP." There was a click on the other end. _Exactly. Speed over goodbyes. Besides, we'll see each other again._

I turn to Alex. "Ok, be ready for anything. We haven't encountered anything yet, but that doesn't mean we won't." And that's obviously the perfect time for a slasher to see us from off in the distance. Which one does.

* * *

Alex and I ran for our lives. Not only has that one slasher met up with two more, but we've got a few members of the "pack" on us too, screaming their creepy little heads off. I glance over my shoulder as we run. The necros are still chasing us, but at least they haven't gotten any closer.

Alex wheezes "I can't run much further." Change in plans then. I whip out the bluetooth I decided to bring to school today, I got tired of holding my phone to my ear. I activated the voice control and shouted "Call Jake Albright!" into it. My phone responded with "Calling Pizza Hut." I gave up and took out my phone and hit the dial button under Jake's number. He answered in record time.

"Joe, where are you? Timmy said you never called, and he was with Evon!"

I yelled back "I got problems!" I suddenly heard Evon's voice on Jake's end.

"I just heard that..."

I yell "Heard what?"

"Your voice..."

"That's SUPER! I hear you too!"

"There! Joe, turn left at the corner in front of you!" I use an extra burst of energy and sprint up and around the corner of the building we were running alongside to see Jake, Evon, and Timmy in the distance! Finally! A roar from behind Alex and I reminded us to run faster.

Timmy yelled from across the campus "Why are you running?"

"Look behind me, idiots!"

The half a dozen or so necromorphs rounded the corner the moment I said that, and I was close enough to the trio where I could see their eyes widen in disbelief as to what was chasing us.

"Don't just stand there!", I yelled. "RUN!" So, they did. They joined in our mad sprint for survival. Jake ran up next to me and asked quietly "We aren't going to make it are we?" I panted from exhaustion before I answered his question. I hadn't done any running in a long while, and doing a marathon sprint wasn't the best way to pick it up again.

"We will," I gasped. "As long as we make it to the safe zone!"

Alex suddenly shouted out "BRUTE!" I looked back and saw that somewhere along the way, a brute thought it'd be fun to join in the hunt, chasing the 5 humans fleeing from its brethren. _Oh, for the love of..._

"RUN FASTER!", I shouted. "We're almost there!" We rounded another corner and saw the Marker in front of us. But no Ricky.

_No...no. This is safe. It has to be._

"RICKY!"

The teenager in question stepped out from behind the Marker, wondering who called his name. I waved frantically to him, and Evon shouted "Big guy's right behind us!" I risked a look back and saw the brute 20 feet behind us, and gaining. I looked ahead and knew we were about 30 feet away from the Marker. I tried to rally our drive for survival for our group as fast as I could.

"Sprint as hard as you can and you live!" That did the trick. We all made one final push, and made it inside the crater safely. I jerked my head around and looked at the brute, hoping my plan worked. It ran closer and closer and closer, and right when I closed my eyes so I didn't see it bearing down on us, the thumping of its legs stopped. I cracked an eye open and saw the brute standing at the edge of the crater, unmoving, just...waiting. I passed out from sheer relief and exhaustion at that point.

* * *

I woke up 4 hours later. I sat up to see there was a whole horde of necromorphs around the crater now, waiting for us. _Oh. That's nice. Death by necromorph, or death by starvation since we have no food. Great choice._ I heard someone talking behind me, mentioning I was awake. Moments later, I'm surrounded by everyone I brought here, including...

"Tillman? Alex Tillman?"

The Alex I was referring to gave me a big grin and asked "Who were you expecting? A necromorph?"

I shook my head. "That's not...it's not funny, Tillman."

His smile faded. "No, sorry...yeah, shouldn't have said that, since they're here..." Jake extended a hand down for me and pulled me to my feet. I looked at the people I had managed to rescue. Alex Herrel, Alex Tillman, Ricky, Evon, Timmy, Jake, and myself. I shook my head in disbelief. How did I save myself, let alone 6 others?

"So...how'd Tillman get here?", I asked Ricky.

"Oh, he was actually here already when I showed up. He knew about Dead Space as well." I smiled at Tillman.

"I forgot all about you, actually." He did his typical mock disbelief thing.

"Whhhaaatttt? You save all of them, and forget about me? I'm hurt, Joseph. Right here." He points to his heart. I shake my head, that smile still on my face.

"How could I forget you, Tillman? With your buzz cut and exaggerated arm movements?"

"Real funny, Smeltzer. Funny." I turn to the rest of the...gang, I guess you could say.

"Anybody hear any news?" Everyone except Jake shook his head. I looked pointedly at Jake. "Something to say?" He looked unbelievably forlorn.

"According to what I've heard on my phone...all of T.O. and N.P. are wiped out. Both cities are gone. They're spreading fast."

I sit back down up against the Marker, stunned. "Everyone here?", I ask quietly. Jake looks at his feet.

"Yeah..."

Everyone. My family. My friends I didn't rescue. Total strangers. Massacred. Never had a chance. And the killing. The killing. That girl, screaming in pain, no, AGONY from the puker. The crowds being ripped apart as they tried to run somewhere, anywhere from the demonic creatures. I lean over and literally vomit whatever I can. I wipe my mouth with my sleeve when I finish and stand up, tears running down my face. I stare off into the distance for a few moments while I gather my thoughts. _We're stuck here. No food. No water. No rescue. Everyone's dead. Surrounded by necromorphs. Yeah, you really saw this coming, Smeltzer._

Alex placed a hand on my shoulder, and it drew my attention. I looked right at him, and he gave a weak smile. "SFD?", he said. I smiled at that, still sniffling and crying though. I knew the others were wondering what that meant, but that's a story for later. He looked at them and said to me, "We need a leader. Someone to raise morale, Visari-style. I'd do it, but I don't know them." He looked back at me, and I nodded once, smile still on my face. He wandered back to the main group and left me to think. _I'm not in a "leading" mood..._

Hours passed. Time dragged on and on, and the numbers of necromorphs around the Marker kept increasing endlessly through the night.

"At least they can't get us.", Timmy said.

"Yeah," I replied. "There's the bright side." Evon leaned forward in our little circle we had formed.

"As long as we're not dead, I'm happy." I looked at him.

"We should probably get off the topic of our deaths, it's a little morbi..." My voice trailed off as I noticed someone in the sea of necromorphs. Someone human. I jumped to my feet and watched with my mouth open as she just walked right through the crowd of necros unscathed, heading straight to me.

Jake stood next to Ricky as they both watched Joseph act like he was being gently pushed up against the Marker by someone. Or something. Ricky leaned closer to Jake.

"Does he normally do this?" asked Ricky. Jake shook his head.

"Never seen this before. He must be hallucinating or something."

"That isn't good, is it?" Jake didn't respond that time.

I let her push me up against the Marker. _She should be dead. After all this time. But she isn't, and she's talking to me. _It was so hard to make out what she was saying though. The fact that she was talking to me again was astounding, since we previously had an unspoken agreement to ignore each other, but God! What is she saying? _I can't..._ Then I touched the Marker with my bare hand. Instantly, I understood the mumbled foriegn language. It all made sense. Every word she was saying, the point she was trying to get across. We were going to die.

I swung my head to find Alex and Tillman, not noticing the girl disappear when I looked away. I started babbling like an idiot, I couldn't get the message across to my friends in time. "Convergence, we're dead, minds will break-" Jake grabbed my shoulders and tried to shake me out of it.

"Joe, snap out of it! You're scaring me, man!" I shook myself out of his grip.

"No, you don't understand! The Convergence event is upon us!", I cried. _God, I sound like a Unitologist!_ Alex and Tillman heard me that time, and it hit them. Finally.

At the same time, they asked "Convergence? It's happening?" I nod frantically. "Yes! And-" I get cut off...because Convergence...has begun.

The Marker sends out a pulse of energy, giving us all the worst headaches any of us have ever had. I can't even think about anything else other than the pain, it's so intense. The 7 of us are stuck rolling around on the ground now, clutching our heads like idiots. Then another pulse, doubling the pain. I manage to force myself to my feet and lean up against the Marker. Images were suddenly forced through my mind. A ship drifting in space, giant, foreboding. The Red Marker on a pedestal. A Convergence event around a skyscraper sized Marker. Finally, a sleek, futuristic ship flying towards the larger ship previously seen. I manage to wrench my hand off the Marker to see my friends going limp, one by one. _NO! I didn't come all this way to die here!_ Then the world around me explodes into darkness, and I struggle to keep myself awake, but as with the rest of my friends, I fall unconscious and collapse on the cold asphalt, unmoving.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well...not much for me to do except sit here and hope it goes well. I'm continuing this story no matter what, but if it gets bad reviews, I'll just slow the update rate to when I feel like it instead of trying to hit a weekly schedule. Now, quick shout-outs to my inspirations! Sarge1995 gets the first thank you, since The Outsider was the first story I read on here, and I find it awesome with all the other characters from different games added in. I'm warning you now, I might do something like that. ;) 2nd place goes to iNf3ctioNZ(Why does your name have to be so complex?). I'm stealing your idea of ending up in the ME universe early by the way, but it won't be like your style. He also has a sentence in the 1st AN of Masses to Masses saying how you have to stick with the story to discover "his purpose in the ME universe". Same idea applies to here as well. And I guess 3rd is a tie between Wozzeck and The eezoman. Both of their stuff is pretty good, but it could be a little better IMO. But this isn't about other authors, it's about me! So hope you liked this confusing first chapter I wrote in 2 days. Post some reviews if you care about this story!**


	2. It gets worse

**Author's Note: I got this done in unbelievable time, don't think I'll be updating this often all the time. I don't have much to say for this one, just enjoy it and let me know if you see a mistake I missed or if something's too confusing, and I'll try to fix it.**

You know how sometimes when you wake up, you keep your eyes closed to savor that last little bit of sleep? I tried that. The only problem is that it's pretty hard to get comfortable when you're lying on a cold metal floor. I placed my arm underneath my head. _Where's my pillow?_ I rolled over from my stomach to my side. _When did my bed get so hard? And cold?_ I open my eyes and look at my watch on my arm so I can see the time. _Good, it's still early. _I lower my arm and close my eyes so I can go to sleep again. _Wait a second... _My eyes snap open, and I quickly take in my surroundings. I'm in some sort of dead-end hallway with metal plating covering the walls and floor, but the dim lighting made it hard to see any further than the immediate area. _This isn't my room! Where am I?_

I suddenly heard something move behind me, and I sat up and whipped around to see half a dozen forms lying on the ground, one of them moving. I waited a few seconds to see if they'd leap up and attack or something, and after I determined that said shapes were not a threat of any kind, I took the most logical choice of action. I poked one. It rolled over and muttered something inaudible when I jabbed my finger into a particularly squishy part of it. Even though it didn't say anything comprehensible, I recognized the odd accent of its mumbling. The voice belonged to Timothy Ta.

Thoughts flew through me like...like butter melted in a microwave. Ok, that metaphor sucked. The discovery of Timmy really did freak me out though. _What's he doing here? Why am I here? Where is here? Most importantly, why was he sleeping next to me?_ I quietly got up and checked the other shapes. Upon close examination, they turned out to be Tillman, Ricky, Jake, Alex, and Evon. I scratched my head in bewilderment. _What happened last night? Why are these guys here? Wait...wait a second..._ The memories of what had happened last night, or whenever it happened, came flooding back. Along with the headache.

I winced at the sudden pain. It wasn't as bad as when the Marker did whatever the hell it was doing before, but it was still one of the more terrible headaches I'd ever had. I thought for a moment about the recent events. Several questions immediately popped into my head, along with the images of people being massacred in the distance while I ran around the school, but I shook my head to clear it. Better discuss those things with the guys before I go drawing any conclusions on my own, they might have different ideas. Not to mention we could figure out how we got here, wherever that is, without being killed by necromorphs or the Convergence. There was a guy in the game who ended up with half his body looking like it had been blown up after he was right next to a Marker when it went through Convergence, so I was a little curious as to why that didn't happen to us, but I wasn't complaining about it.

I went around quietly shaking and nudging people to let them wake up on their own. I learned my lesson about startling people awake when I accidentally did that to my mom a few years back. I ended up getting punched in the face because she thought I was a burglar or something, not a fun experience. As my friends slowly began to wake up, they all had the same questions.

"Where am I? What's going on?"

Standard questions for when you wake up in a strange place, I'm assuming, seeing as I thought the same. I refused to answer any questions I was asked until everyone was up and moving.

* * *

My friends and I stood in a rough circle, everyone silent as we thought about the events of last night. At least, I think it was last night. I really had absolutely no idea how long we'd been asleep. After a few minutes of standing around and thinking, Evon finally spoke up.

"Ok, did that actually happen, or were we all dreaming?"

I scoffed at that idea.

"Yeah, because we all had the same exact dream. That kind of thing is only in Inception, Evon."

"What if this is Inception," Evon asked. That question just totally threw me off.

"Huh?"

"What if this is all a dream? I mean, monsters show up, kill everyone except us, we black out, and magically wake up somewhere else? What if the monsters were the first level of the dream, and this is the second?"

I shake my head, this is just getting stupid. "Impossible. There's no way-"

Evon cuts me off, getting more and more excited. Or agitated, I can't really tell. "What if in order to get out of this, we have to kill ourselves?"

Alright, that's it. I stepped forward and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Evon," I said. "Listen to yourself. You sound ridiculous! We have to die? What kind of thinking is that?"

His resolve in his idea faltered. "I...yeah, you're right. Sorry...I shouldn't have said that. Sorry."

I give him a quick nod, then turn to face the others.

"Now, we're going to figure this out from the beginning, so..." I look directly at Ricky with my head, since in the dim lighting, you can't see where a person's eyes are looking, and gesture with my hand, indicating that he should be the one to start.

"Oh! Right," he said. "Uhh...ok. Well, I was sitting at my desk being bored like always when there was this, like, really big flash of light, what felt like a small earthquake, and a big crash from outside. Our class ran outside and we found that big pointy rock-"

"Marker," I interjected.

Ricky nodded excitedly. "Yeah, that! We found it in the crater."

Jake said, "That explains how it got there."

I turned my attention to him. "How so?"

"If there's a crater, that means it hit the ground pretty hard. So it must have come from high up, probably even from space."

I nod. "Ok, makes sense. That must be the way it-"

Tillman totally interrupted me at that moment. Jerk. "Look, big whoop, we know how it got where it did, but the more important question is how we ended up here?"

Alex looked up at me. "He's got a point. And how did you know about the Convergence happening?"

I frowned. "You were right there, you didn't see her?"

Alex copied my facial expression. "See who?"

My mind ran wild with thoughts. _How did he not see her? She was right there! You don't miss someone who walks through a horde of necromorphs unscathed! Wait a second...necros didn't attack her...no one else saw her...she warned me about Convergence, something she shouldn't even have known about...oh. Oh, this isn't good._

I finally found my voice. "Ok, I'm assuming the Convergence brought us here, because the game doesn't actually go over what Convergence actually does, and we weren't killed by it or the necromorphs, so it must have brought us here. Wherever that is. As to how I knew it would happen..." I faltered. _Should I tell them? I don't think it'd sit well with them if I said "Oh, a hallucination told me." _

In the end, I went with the simplest option. "I, uh...I touched the Marker," I said lamely. "It forced these visions of what would happen into my mind. It just didn't go past the actual Convergence occuring."

I could feel my face going red from telling such a direct lie to my friends. Parents are one thing, but friends... Hopefully, the dim light would keep them from noticing. They all seemed to mull this bit of information over, then Tillman shrugged.

"Works for me," he said. Phew. Everyone else nodded in agreement. Oh, that's a relief. I clapped my hands together.

"Well," I said. "Let's go find out where we are, shall we?" I turned and started walking down the corridor with my friends following behind me.

* * *

We'd been walking back and forth down this stupid fifty foot long corridor for at least half an hour, our hands feeling all over the walls for a door, an indent, anything, really, just trying to find a way out. I made it all the way down towards the area we'd started in AGAIN. _This is ridiculous! There's nothing here! _I slammed my head into the end of the hallway, somehow, I'd missed the corner of the wall with my hands and I walked right into it.

"Shit!" I yelled out, half because of pain and half because of frustration. I heard Alex yell back with a distant "Fuck!" and I turned and smiled. I waited a second or two, then yelled out "Die!" at the same time as Alex did. We both started chuckling at that.

Timmy, who was right next to me, gave me an odd look. I think one of his eyebrows was raised. It was either that, or it was gone. He asked me, "Eh, Joe?"

I looked back at him, the smile still on my face. "Yeah?"

He stayed silent. It took me a second to realize he was wondering what that little "exchange" between Alex and I was. "Oh yeah, you guys are probably wondering what that was!"

I hear Jake's voice echo throughout the tunnel somewhere. "Not really."

I yell back, "Shut up, Albright!", and hear a laugh, then turn back to Timmy. "It's this little joke we have that always cheers us up," I said. "There was this one time in Dead Space 2, I fought off a necromorph ambush and started stomping their bodies. When you stomp a lot in that game, the guy you play as, Issac, starts cussing away, so this one time I was stomping bodies, I did it for a while then started walking away. There must have been a delay in the game though, because as I'm walking away, Issac decides to randomly shout out "Shit, fuck, die!", and the two of us always thought it was funny."

I noticed that EVERYONE had shown up to hear my story, and they were dead silent. "Ok, granted, the story itself isn't that funny, but it's become like an internet meme between the both of us." Silence. "Yeah...ok. I'm done." Everyone turned back to looking for an exit. I started running my hands over the walls again. _This is so stupid! There's no exit anywhere!_ Then my hand ran over a small protrusion in the wall. _Hello...what's this?_

I turned my head and yelled, "I found something!" It was like being mobbed by insects, they were all on top of me so fast. Ricky tackled me out of the way, being the football player he is, and placed his finger on the button.

He yelled, "We're getting outta here, finally!" He pressed the button.

* * *

I crawled out of the pile of garbage that we all fell into after Ricky opened some sort of hatch in the floor. Of course, us being packed together next to the switch meant we all fell down it at the same time. I'm amazed that we didn't get stuck in the chute actually. I heard Evon yell out, "Good going, Ricky! Idiot..."

"I heard that," said a muffled voice. My ears picked up on some sort of dull thuds coming from the walls in between the voices of everybody speaking, but it's pretty hard to hear it over the muttering and grumbling.

"Hey, everyone," I call out. "Listen!" We all fall silent, and quiet techno music can be heard coming from the walls. I, along with all the others, start frantically looking for an exit while we try to get out of the trash.

Tillman shouted, "Found it!", and everyone tried to get over to the direction he had pointed in as fast as they could. You can't really run down a mountain of garbage though, so we all ended up falling down and rolling towards the bottom. I stood up and brushed myself off as the did the rest of us before we ran to the door.

As we neared the door, I announced, "Ok, let's go find out where we've been for the past I don't know how long!", to a chorus of agreements. I turned, eyes still on my pals as the door opened automatically, and I stepped through. And promptly bumped into a large armored figure.

"Ah! Sorry!", I said, as I stumbled backwards, watching my feet to make sure I didn't trip. A deep, gravelly voice made me freeze however.

"Watch it, human!"

It wasn't what he said that made my freeze, but rather, his voice...I recognized the sound. Batarian. I looked up, still unable to move from where I stood, into the four eyes of an honest-to-God, real live batarian. We stared at each other for a few moments before he spoke again.

"You got a problem with me, human?"

I had to swallow a couple of times before I could actually speak. "No," I squeaked. Wow, that was pitiful. The batarian leaned forward and whispered menacingly into my ear.

"Then why don't you get out of my way?"

I nodded as fast as I could. "Ok. Yeah. We'll just get out of your way, sir." I turned to my friends and saw the same stunned expression on their faces that I knew was on mine. I motioned for them to follow me, then practically sprinted out the door with my pals behind me. The batarian watched us leave, then shook his head.

"Stupid humans."

* * *

Our escape from the garbage room sent us into more confusing hallways, but at least the lights were bright enough to the point where you could actually run without a fear of tripping over something you didn't see. The shock of seeing that batarian, a species unseen by my friends, except for Alex and I, had apparently scared everyone into silence. While everybody else was probably wondering about what they had just seen, I thought about what it meant. _A batarian. A real batarian. This is impossible. No. Actually, you know what? Of course it's possible. First, the Marker shows up, creates necromorphs that kill everyone, and now I'm encountering batarians. I honestly don't think I'd be surprised if John Marston rode up on a unicorn and told me I eat babies_. I rounded a corner and came across a large open space. Well, large compared to all the passages I'd been going through lately. I came to a dead stop, realizing that I knew this one specific place I was standing. Sadly, no one else decided to stop like I did.

They all crashed into me, knocking me to the floor and piling on top of me. Everybody started grumbling again as Timmy, being on the top of the pile, leapt to his feet and began helping everybody to their feet.

"Maybe next time, you'll have learned to not stop in front of a group of people running.", he said with a huge grin on his face as he helped me up. I shot him a dirty glare as I stood up.

Alex asked, "Why'd you stop?" I looked at him in disbelief. "You don't recognize this?"

He shook his head. _You've played ME2, come on!_ "The reddish lighting? The techno music?" An expressionless face looked at me._ Fine._ I prepared my Australian accent for the word I prepared to say.

"The fact that it's a PISSHOLE?" A look of dawning realization came upon his face. _Wow, quoting Miranda actually worked! I hope I don't go saying things like "priiiiiize" all over the place, no one would understand it._ Knowing that Alex had figured out where we were, I turned to the others and spread my arms.

"My friends, we are on Omega!" I recieved blank stares in response. _As if explaining Dead Space to them earlier wasn't complicated enough..._

I lowered my arms. "Omega," I asked. I studied everyone's faces. Was that...no, they don't know anything. Looks like I'll have to explain everything. Again. I sighed.

"Omega is from Mass Effect 2." That got some response. Everybody except Alex, who had the game like me, and Tillman, who knew nothing about the game, opened their eyes in surprise._ Spending all that time talking to them about video games in class didn't go to waste after all!_ Jake said, in disbelief, "You mean this world, the one we're on right now, is in Mass Effect?"

"Well, technically, it's a space station," I said. "But yes, it's in Mass Effect." I gave him a dark look. "We should probably talk about this somewhere more privately."

* * *

I shifted in my seat in a booth in Upper Afterlife. Fortunately, there was no wait to get inside, and though we got some weird looks for our clothes, nobody cared. We were anonymous. _Good thing we're on Omega instead of someplace like the Citadel. We'd stick out like a sore thumb there._ I looked over at Evon and Ricky. They were both staring at the same asari dancer, and I could easily guess what they were both thinking.

Evon asked me for the SEVENTH time, "What are those again?" I sighed and looked at my watch. I'd been answering these stupid questions for two hours. Two. Hours. I looked back at Evon.

"They're called asari," I said. "They're an all-female race that reproduce by melding with other species." A devious smile grew over my face. "In fact, from what I've heard, melding is better than-"

Alex cut me off with a warning. "Joseph..." I look over at him and see a face that just screams "Don't do it!" I stick my tongue out at him and go back to looking around the club, bored as ever. After the novelty of actually being in Afterlife for the first time in real life wears off, it actually gets kinda boring. I glance over at Alex and notice him looking around the club.

"Looking for someone," I ask him.

"I wanna see a krogan!" I sigh. This kid's unbelievable. We're in a different world, no way back that we know of, and all he can think about is seeing a real krogan. He notices me staring at him, and looks back at me.

"Why do you ask," he says with a big smile on his face. Uh oh, I see what he's doing...

"Uh, no reason," I say hurridly. He keeps his gaze locked on mine.

"Looking for a certain quarian?" Crap. I knew that telling him I'm a Talimancer before this all happened would somehow get me in a situation like this. Ricky managed to tear his eyes of the asari he was watching to join in on our conversation.

"He asks, "What's a quarian?" I sigh. Great, here we go with the questions. Actually, no. I'm done with the questions. I scan the room to look for a public extranet terminal. Then it hits me that I don't actually know what they look like. _ARGH! That's what I get for being a PS3 fan, I only got to play the 2nd Mass Effect. I know what happens in the first, I just don't know the ambush spots and the best decisions to make like I do in the 2nd._ I look at Ricky.

"Can I answer that later? I want to..." WAIT A SECOND. I don't know the date. Oh. Oh no. This could be very bad. VERY VERY bad. I quickly stand up.

"I just remembered I have to go to the bathroom." Lamest excuse ever, besides my dog ate my homework. Which, believe it or not, actually happened to me once. I hurry off in the direction of Lower Afterlife, my intention to meet with Patriarch. From the little I dealt with him in the 2nd, it seems like he'd be the right guy to go to. I'm not going to Aria, that'd be stupid. I'd probably get shot just for wanting to speak with her, I doubt she'll talk to a nobody who just wants to know what the date is. I jog down the ramp and enter Lower Afterlife. _Ok...where's that door? He's in here somewhere._ I slowly move into the club, scanning the walls. I notice an asari dancer sitting on a table, beckoning me over, but I don't have time for that. I'm a man on a mission!

I finally located the door and walk inside. _Alright, now, just walk up and ask him what the date is. If it's close to the attack on Eden Prime, then I'll have to find someway onto the Citadel. If we have to wait a few weeks or so, then we will. But our only chance of surviving lies with Shepard._ I walk down the stairs and find Patriarch talking with...is that the same two people he's talking to in the second game? Really? Then his size finally registers in my mind._ Wow. Krogan. Big. _I shake my head. I can't screw this up, I just have to walk up and ask him. I stand behind him for a few seconds. I always had trouble talking to strangers, and this is the worst time for me to chicken out on it. I take a deep breath and step forward.

"Excuse me," I said. "Mr. Patriarch?" The krogan turns around and looks me in the eye. So...intimidating...

"And what can I do for you," he says. Well, at least he's friendly.

"This may sound stupid, but, um...what's the date?" Patriarch looks at me with confusion.

"I don't know. Things like that don't really matter to me anymore. Not since Aria beat me." _I didn't plan for this! Not good! Not good!_

"Uhh...ok. Ok. Alright then, do you know the year?" _Please say yes, please say yes..._

Patriarch lets out a full-belted guffaw at that. "You don't know what year it is? Ah ha ha ha ha!" I stand there, bouncing up and down on my feet, almost scared because I'm so nervous of what his answer will be. The krogan finally finishes laughing and looks at me.

"You really don't know?" I slowly shake my head. "Oh." He scratches his head plate, though it's probably just to look like he's confused.

"It's uh...it's 21...I know this. I know this, hold on." Ok, maybe he's scratching his head because HE doesn't know.

"I remember!", he exclaims happily. "It's 2178." My mind reels from that. I can't even...I can't think about what this means.

"Ok," I say quietly. "Thanks."

"Anytime, human!" Then he turns around back to the people he was speaking to. I do the same and slowly start heading up back up to Upper Afterlife. _I need to tell the guys about this. We're stuck 5 years before Mass Effect actually happens._

* * *

Ricky leans over to yell in Evon's ear, the music is so loud, you can barely hear the person next to you.

"Hey, Evon," he yells. "Which one is your favorite?"

Evon turns his head towards Ricky while still watching the asari dancers. "I like the one on the left, you see her?"

Ricky cranes his neck around, catching sight of the asari in question. "Her? No, look at the one in the back, she's the best!"

Alex sat back in his seat, chuckling at the two of them. _They're so stupid._ Then Alex saw the door on the far end of the room open and Joseph walk back in. Alex noticed that Joseph looked strangely...out of it. Last time Alex had seen him like this was..._ There wasn't a last time._

I drifted over towards the table the guys were sitting in, trying to absorb the information I just learned_. We're on Omega, no money, no where to live, no jobs, and we're 5 years away from the possibilty of Shepard recruiting us. FIVE years_. I made it back to the table, and Alex and Jake were already at my side, asking what was wrong_. You have no idea_... I decided to be blunt about it, you can't sugarcoat the fact that we're doomed. I looked up from the floor to them.

"I have some bad news," I said in a strangled voice.

* * *

Everyone sat frozen around the table. Nobody spoke, nobody moved, we all just tried to comprehend the fact that we had 5 years to kill. Hopefully, before they killed us.

Alex was the first to speak. "We have no money. No food. No place to stay. And we can't meet up with Shepard for five years."

I nodded numbly. As if losing everybody in our lives was bad enough, the universe has to go screw it up this way.

Tillman raised a hand. We all looked at him, and he spoke up. "If we're stuck here for five years, then we need to get back to Earth."

Evon agreed with him. "We've got no chance here, we don't know about this universe at all. At least Earth is familiar territory."

Everyone quietly agreed with him. Then they all looked at me_. Oh. I have to make a plan. Yeah_. I cleared my throat.

"The way I see it, there's only one thing we can do." Everyone stared at me. "We beg." More silence_. If it wasn't for the situation, all my dramatic statements being answered with silence would be funny_. I got out of my seat and started pacing back and forth. "We go around the club begging random people to take the 7 of us to Earth. We can't pay people, so we beg. The faster we get this done, the faster we can plan our next move." Everyone looked at each other, then back at me and nodded. I took a deep breath_. Here we go_.

* * *

I ran from Upper Afterlife down to Lower Afterlife with Alex. Ok, in hindsight, asking a krogan to do something for free was a bad move, but we were desperate! _At least he got to see his krogan... _We made it down to the corridor that connected Upper and Lower Afterlife and were running to the stairs when a human man stepped out from around the corner, stopping us from moving.

"I couldn't help but notice you running back and forth down this hallway," he said. "Are you looking for someone?" I looked at Alex, and could see he was thinking the same thing I was_. We found our guy_. I nodded at Alex, who ran off to gather the other guys, and turned to the man.

"You could say it's something like that."

The man raised an eyebrow. "What's the problem?" He had a very nice sounding voice, like he wanted to help us out.

"Well," I said. "My 6 friends and I, we, uh, we ended up here somehow. I don't know how, but we woke up on Omega, no money, nowhere to go, and we need to get back to Earth. The problem is, we've been running around asking random people for free rides becau-"

"Because you have no money," he said with a smile. "Well, look no further. I was just about to head there with a shipment of minerals, I could take you there. My name's Victor, by the way." He stuck out his hand.

I grabbed it and shook it. "Joseph Smeltzer. My friends'll be here any moment, and then we can head out." I let out a shaky breath. "Thank you so much. You've probably just saved our lives."

"Aw, it's no problem at all, don't worry about it," Victor said. "We'll leave the moment your friends get here."

* * *

We all sat in the cargo bay of Victor's ship when his voice came on over the intercom.

"We'll be arriving at the Mass Relay in about 20 minutes, kids."

We all breathed a collective sigh of relief. We were gonna make it. I stood up and faced everyone.

"My people," I began. "Sons and daughters of Helghan." I looked over at Alex and smiled. Boy, unless the others learn about all these little jokes, our lives are going to be a lot less interesting. I started over.

"Everyone, I want to suggest something. I realize we're stuck in a new world, no one from our lives left except for each other, no one left to trust except each other, and we're headed to a new Earth, one we've never seen before. So, I suggest that we promise to stick together, never abandon each other, and always help each other, no matter what. I'm guessing I'm not the only one?" I finished my mini speech with a smile.

Everyone rose as one, and we all went around shaking each other's hand. Not everybody knew each other well, but that would change in the coming years. We'd need to stick together to survive. That's when an explosion rocked the ship.

We all stumbled around, bumping into each other and falling down. Victor's voice came on over the intercom again.

"We're under attack by batarian raiders! They're boarding the ship! I'm sorr-" His voice cut out, due to the sound of a gunshot. Everyone looked at each other with a serious look in our eyes. _If we're going down, we're going down fighting._ We faced the cargo bay doors and waited. And waited. And waited. _This is annoying._ Suddenly, the lights cut out. I heard Timmy shout out.

"Hey! Face us like men, cowards!" Then I heard a loud smack, and someone hit the floor. I gasped. _They're in the room with us. _I heard the same sound five other times around the room. All within seconds of each other. _They aren't shooting. They're taking us alive._ Then, I got hit in the side of the head. It was like the Marker all over again, my head exploding in pain, my vision fading. At least, I think it was fading. It's hard to tell when your vision's going dark in a pitch-black room. As I drifted slowly into unconsciousness, I heard a couple of batarians talking.

"Sir, these humans don't have any identification on them, or omni-tools. They have nothing except these odd clothes."

"Hm. I don't trust these humans. They might be undercover military." It was so hard to focus on what they were saying!

"So what should we do? Slavery?

There was a moment's pause before the leader spoke again. "No. Send them to the prison." Oh no...

And then I blacked out. Again.

**Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this more than I did writing the final quarter, it always ends up feeling...rushed, or something like that, to me. If you haven't noticed, I changed my writing style! Let me know which type you like better, if it's chapter 2 style, I can go back and rework chapter one so it's like the style of this chapter. I hope I make the next chapter sufficently awesome enough, since I'm putting in a certain character deserving of the awesomeness.  
Additonal note: Well, I get to thank eezoman again for "advertising" my story in his most recent chapter, I didn't see that coming. And I can't believe no one's made a comment on the Marston-unicorn-eating babies line, I thought that was hilarious! Granted, there are only 7 reviews, but SOMEONE could have said something...**


	3. The Prison

I opened my eyes to see Jake above me, shaking me awake.

"Joe," he whispered. I sat up off the floor as Jake leaned back and noticed everyone else huddling together in the shadows of the cell we were in. I stood up and walked over to the door, surprised that there were actual metal bars holding us in. I ran my hand down one of the bars. _They still use these?_

"Human!"

I flinched and hurried away from the door towards the back of the cell as a batarian stepped into view. He pointed to me.

"You." I took an involuntary step back. Whatever this guy wanted, I guessed it wouldn't be good.

"Come with me," he said. He opened his omni-tool, hit some buttons, and the door slid open. I glanced down at my friends. They were trying to inch away as far away from the door as possible. I could see the terror in their eyes as they watched the batarian stand outside the cell. At least with the necromorphs, we had a chance to survive, but here? There's no way out of this. Shepard isn't going to fly in and rescue us. We were alone. And most likely going to die.

"Now, human!" I looked to the batarian again and, with a sigh, started walking towards him. The moment I got within arm's reach of him, he grabbed my shirt and threw me to the floor.

"Let's go," he shouted. I jumped to my feet and was shoved by the guard. _Sheesh, this must be what Captain Narville felt like in Killzone 3 when he was a prisoner. Why do futuristic prison guards have to be so violent? _The guard pushed me forward, escorting me through the halls of the batarian vessel. We eventually arrived at a door set in the back wall of a dead end, and I was forced through it into a darkened room. I looked back at the entrance and saw the door close and lock, as evidenced by the red light on the door panel that replaced the green. _That's...probably a bad sign._

A single light came on in the center of the room, illuminating an armored batarian standing with his back to me. I figured that the only thing I could even try to do was calmly try to figure out what was going on and see if I could convince him to not kill us. I took a step forward and each of my arms were suddenly grabbed by someone to either side of me. They dragged me over towards the light and unceremoniously dumped me on the floor behind what I assumed was the lead batarian.

That will be all," he said, and I heard the footsteps from the other batarians retreat into the darkness. The leader hadn't even turned his head to look at them when he spoke, a sign that he had obviously been the head of whatever group this was for a long time, or at least had great respect from those under his command. He turned and watched me pick myself up off the floor. That was twice I was thrown to the floor in less than 3 minutes.

The batarian spoke. "What are you planning, human?" I look him in his lower eyes when I reply.

"I'm not planning anyth-" I recieved a knee to the stomach. I doubled over in the pain, completely caught off guard by his attack. I tried to catch my breath as he kept talking.

"Don't lie, human. You're undercover military." Well, I wasn't expecting that. "I want to know what you humans are planning to do to the Terminus systems." I stared up at him.

"Are you crazy? I'm not with the Alliance! Look at me, I'm just-" A punch to the face this time. I was lucky my glasses didn't break. I stumbled backwards, the batarian yelling at me the whole time.

"You have no omni-tool, no weapons, no identification, and you were in the Terminus systems heading back to your Earth on a human owned freighter!"

"That doesn't mean anything," I argue. The batarian shook his head in frustration.

"Either you're undercover military, or you're with that human group. Cerberus." He wrapped his hands around the top part of my shirt and pulled me close. "Either way, you're lucky I don't kill you where you stand," he said quietly, his warm stinking breath washing over me. "But our policy for dealing with humans like you is to bring you to the prison for a more...thorough investigation." He smiled, showing all of his teeth. Creepy.

"Take him back to the brig." The lead batarian turned back around, and a 2nd one stepped in front of me and sucker-punched me in the gut. I collapsed to the floor, wheezing from the pain as the two batarians in the shadows dragged me out the door and back to the cell. They tossed me back in like a sack of potatoes with a few kicks thrown in for good measure, then left the cell, laughing away. The moment the door was sealed shut, my friends rushed over to help me out.

"Are you ok," asked Timmy.

"Yeah," I grunted as they helped me sit up. "Never better." Typical macho man talk.

"Pfft, yeah, right," Tillman said. "You look terrible, what'd they do to you?" I scooted over to the back wall so I could lean back and rest.

"What does it look like, genius? They smacked me around while asking questions."

Evon asked, "What'd they want?"

I looked at him. "They think we're undercover Alliance, or Cerberus, plotting to do something to the Terminus systems." I noticed Alex nodding, understanding why the batarians would think something like that. Everyone else still had the same worried expression on their faces.

"What's the Alliance, and Cerberus," asked Timmy. Oh no. Not more questions. Well, I guess it's not as bad as going over asari physique for two hours though. I tried to get more comfortable, but a sudden muscle spasm sent a pain shooting up my side. I gasped and clutched at the area it hurt, which made everyone surge forward to help. I quickly held up my hand.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! It's just sore, I shouldn't have moved." I turned my gaze to Timmy. "Okay, the Alliance is the human military, and Cerberus is considered a "pro-human splinter group" that formed from the Alliance. Now, when the Alliance encountered batarians, things got tense. The Alliance had begun colonizing worlds in a part of space known as the Skyllian Verge after humanity had been accepted by aliens. The batarians had already been colonizing there, and we kinda pushed them out. To keep it simple, the batarians got mad and severed all diplomatic relations and ties with the other races. Now, batarians are restricted to their own space by their government, unable to leave. Some batarians, all criminals really, leave and go to the Terminus systems."

"And what are those," Ricky asked.

"I'm getting there! See, this is where it gets complicated. Council space, I'll explain the details later, is like the United States. There are a ton of different worlds there, each with their own rules and laws, similar to the individual states. The Council is like the federal government, they set the laws that each world in Council space must adhere to. The Terminus systems consist of worlds that refused to follow Council laws, so it's more of a "survival of the fittest" thing over there, there's no unifying set of laws the worlds must follow. If you're the strongest, you make the rules, it's as simple as that. These batarians think we're undercover, trying to plot against the Terminus systems."

"What could we even do," Jake asked. "We're just kids! Well, teenagers."

I shook my head. "I have no idea what they think. Maybe they believe we're going to force these systems under Council law. That would make sense, actually. These batarians like the freedom of pirating and enslaving, they can't do that in Council space." A squad of batarians chose that moment to enter our cell, assault rifles raised.

"Get up." The batarian who spoke somehow managed to say those two words like he'd just love to shoot us all right there. We leapt to our feet, except for Alex and Tillman, surprisingly. They helped me up off the floor since my body was sore and aching all over. I'd never actually been full-on punched or injured before today. I'm not counting the occasional scrape, or the one time I jumped off a 2 to 3 foot high couch, landed on a fluffy down pillow and broke my arm when I was 5 or 6 years old. That was just unlucky.

The batarians slapped some sort of futuristic handcuffs on us, then shoved us out the cell door.

* * *

We had been stuck standing around in a single file line in the airlock for at least 15 minutes. There were batarians on both sides of us, doing the same thing we were doing, waiting for the stupid door to open. I was in the back of the line, along with a couple of batarians who were guarding me, and I had managed to overhear a small amount of their hushed conversation. The ship we were on had apparently docked with a space station, the prison, they called it. At least I know where this prison was now, and where we'd be until they decided to execute us_. _The middle of abso-frickin-lutely nowhere._ From having a normal day with my friends to being accused of terrorism and thrown into a batarian prison in under a day. That HAS to be some sort of record_.

The airlock door opened without warning, revealing a hallway that led to the prisoner processing center. I know that it was the prison processing center because an automated voice announced "Welcome to the Prisoner Processing center," the moment the door had opened. The lead batarian ordered us forward, the customary shoves and abuse still being used on us. We marched up to the processing center in complete silence, nobody speaking a word. The batarian at the main desk looked up as we approached.

"Pair them up," he said to our escorts. They immediately grabbed us all by the arm and spread us out in pairs. Jake was standing next to Ricky, Evon next to Timmy, and Tillman next to Alex. Since there were only seven of us, I was left without a partner. The batarian at the desk looked at me and smiled. Why do their teeth have to be so...pointy?

"All on his own, huh?" He typed something into the terminal in front of him and studied it. Then he glanced back up and jerked his head to his right.

"Put them in the decontamination cells, we need to make sure they don't have any unwanted diseases. Except for him." He pointed right at me.

"I don't like the look of this human," he said. "Too sneaky. Put him in the isolation wing with the other human." I was outraged. They put me, the most polite, well-dressed guy I'd ever seen, on my own? _Don't like how I look?_ I opened my mouth to speak, then cried out in pain when I was rifle-butted in the leg to knock me down. I collapsed to the floor and got kicked while I was down, then picked up by a couple of batarians and dragged away. I managed one final glimpse of my friends before I was pulled past the corner of the hallway. They looked utterly terrified.

_Poor guys. I hope they'll be ok. At least they have someone to talk to, unlike myself. I can barely believe this is happening. Today SUCKS._

* * *

We rounded corner after corner, went down hallway after hallway. The place couldn't get more boring if it tried. I was almost relieved when I was dragged through a door to large open room of nothing. Except for maybe...6 cells in a room that could fit at least 50. From what I could see, they were all empty. _Wow. That guy wasn't kidding when he said "isolation wing"._ The batarians finally stopped in front of one of the cells towards the back of the room.

"It's this one," said one of them. He activated his omni-tool and keyed in a sequence, which caused the cell door to retract and open. The cells were more advanced, similar to the ones I had seen in Purgatory in ME2. The batarians let go of my arms for a split second and removed my handcuffs before they both pushed me to the floor, closing the door and walking away laughing. I stayed sprawled out on the floor, groaning and coughing a couple of times. I sat up after a few moments of catching my breath, looking around to see where I was.

The prison must have been on its night cycle, which would explain the lack of guards in the halls, and the lights in the cell. The lights inside the actual cell were off, but light from outside the transparent door still shone through, illuminating about half of the room. My eyes adjusted to looking into the dark, and I realized there was a figure sitting on a cot at the back of the cell, watching me intently. I couldn't see his face, but from the way his body was positioned, he was watching my every move.

I hurried to my feet. I could have been in the presence of a psychopathic mass murderer, I wasn't going to take any chances.

"Hello," I called out nervously. The figure rose from his seat.

"A kid," he said. "They put a goddamn kid in here with me?" My attitude instantly changed from cautious to ecstatic disbelief. _No way. NO way._ A certain line from ME2 popped into my head. _"Ever been to a batarian prison? They don't trust you enough to sell you into slavery, that's where they send you. In there, you got two choices. Bash your head open on the wall, or kill everyone between you and the exit."_ I immediately knew I'd be getting out of this place, and who'd be the one getting me out. The figure stepped towards me into the light, his face finally visible.

Zaeed Massani.

* * *

I was too astounded to speak. The odds of this kind of thing happening had to be so ridiculous, yet here I was. Standing in front of Zaeed Massani in a batarian prison. The same face. The same voice. Everything about his character in the game was identical to the man in front of me. Except he was wearing a prison jumpsuit instead of his armor_. This is unbelievable_...

Zaeed seemed just as interested in me as I was in him. "Just how old are you," he asked. I was still too busy staring in awe of him to notice that he had even spoken.

"Hey, kid!" I was jolted back to reality.

"Huh?"

I asked you a question!" I quickly scratched the back of my head. I always tended to do that when I got nervous, it's my "tell", similar to Tali when wrings her hands together.

"Sorry," I said. "I zoned out there for a sec." How could I not when Zaeed Massani was standing right in front of me? 5-no, 7 years before I thought he would?

Zaeed scoffed. "Can't say I blame you, kid. Not much else to do around here, except maybe bang your head into a wall." He switched all of his focus back to me. "So," he said. "You seem a little young to be in a place like this. How old are you?"

I scratched the back of my head again. "Yeah, I'm actually just 17." Zaeed looked astounded.

"17? What the bloody hell are they thinking? What'd you do to end up here instead of being sold into slavery?" I threw up my hands in indignation.

"Nothing! They think we're undercover agents!"

"You? An undercover agent? Hah! And I'm a dancer."

I nodded my head. "I know, right? Here we are, minding our own business-"

Zaeed held up a hand. "Wait, we? There's more kids here," he asked. I was getting a little tired of being referred to as a kid all the time, but it was Zaeed, so I let it slide. Besides, what could I even do about it?

"There's seven of us. I got thrown in here because a batarian didn't like the way I looked, apparently I was too "sneaky", but my friends got put in the decontamination cells." Zaeed developed a distant look in his eyes.

"The decon cells are where they put you if you come from someplace where there's a risk of disease, they're separated from the main cells. Where'd they pick you up again?" I didn't quite see how that mattered, but whatever.

"Near Omega, we were on a freighter headed to Earth." He fell silent. _I hope he's figuring out a way out of here. Even if it does seem impossible._ Zaeed suddenly spoke up.

"Right, what's your name?"

"Joseph," I said. "Why?" He suddenly began pacing back and forth.

"Because I don't want to be shouting "kid" all over this goddamn place when we break out."

"Oh. Wait, what?" He stopped and looked me in the eye.

"I've got a plan to get us outta here, kid, along with your buddies. I'm gonna need some help though." I was a little surprised, I didn't think he'd go risking his life to save my friends. Especially since I've seen his loyalty mission and how he treated innocents there, but then, you could argue that's a different situation.

"We're going to save my friends," I asked. He nodded once.

"I'm not leaving innocent children behind in this hellhole, I'd be as bad as the batarians. Now, that ship you flew in on, it'll still be refueling after traveling from the Omega system to here. We break out, raid the station's armory for gear and weapons, go save your pals, then get the hell out of here. Here's the plan..."

* * *

I paced in a circle around the cell while Zaeed leaned up against one of the cell walls, looking bored.

"Relax, kid," he said. I threw him a dirty glance.

"I thought you said you'd use my name." He shrugged.

"You're the only kid here right now. I'll use your name when I need to. Just remember, first part's all on you."

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. Run that part by me again. And you're positive there are no cameras or microphones to hear this conversation?"

Zaeed sighed. "It's called the isolation ward for a reason, jackass. Don't worry so much."

I looked at him again while I kept pacing around the room. "I don't break out of prisons every day here. This has me extremely nervous. Now, what do I have to do again?"

"Fine," he said. "But this is the last time I'm telling you. A guard will come along to hand deliver your prison jumpsuit because we're stuck on our own out here. I'm guessing the reason you didn't get yours straight away like me is because they didn't have your size." He smirked. I ignored it, which irritated him since he was trying to get a reaction out of me. He sighed again.

"This guard will have to confiscate your clothes, just in case you have something hidden in the stitches of your...vintage wear. Your job is to distract him somehow so I can kill him before he closes the door on us and sounds an alarm."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Ok."

"Try not to screw this up," warned Zaeed. "This is the best chance we're gonna get, possibly for our whole lives. No pressure." I gave him an obviously forced smile, then went back to circling the cell. A few minutes later, a guard came into view, carrying a bundled up jumpsuit. I almost lost it right there, I was so anxious. I wanted to look over at Zaeed, but I knew that'd give away that we had a plan. The back of my head was also REALLY itchy now.

The guard stood in front of the door and spoke.

"I'm here to confiscate your clothing. You must remove your garments and toss them to me when I open the door. If you try anything, I will shoot you." He indicated the pistol attached on his belt. He then pointed to Zaeed. "You even twitch in my direction, I'll blow your brains out. Understood?" Zaeed rolled his eyes. The batarian turned back to me.

"Your clothes, human."

I only had a moment to come up with a plan. I don't know why, but I suddenly thought of playing dodgeball back before all this happened. There was this one distraction technique I tried to use as much as possible. With two balls, I'd lob one across to the other side, which forced the person I threw it towards to watch it flying high through the sky, and that allowed me to just throw the second ball as hard as I could towards them. Their attention would be on the first ball, so they never saw the other one coming. _I guess it'll have to work... _I nervously took off my shirt, then stripped down to my underwear. I felt like an idiot standing there in my undies as two guys that could probably kill me in their sleep watched me. The batarian opened the cell door, one hand hovering over his pistol, ready to use it if necessary. He extended his other hand, ready to catch the clothes I was going to toss.

_Here goes nothing._ I gently threw my shirt I had in my left hand, aiming above his head. The batarian kept his eyes on it and caught it in front of his face. He lowered his hand to see my pants hurtling towards his head. The moment I had seen my shirt had distracted the batarian, I flung my pants across the cell with as much force as I could muster. It worked. My pants wrapped around the guard's head, causing him to stumble backwards, completely blind. He clawed at my pants, and that gave Zaeed the time he needed.

I'd never seen him move so fast before. He launched himself off the wall, tackling the guard to the floor and breaking his neck in less than two seconds. Zaeed stood up and tossed me my clothes.

"Here," he said. "Put those back on so we can get moving." He looked back down at the dead batarian. "I can't believe he was stupid enough to fall for that."

I hurridly put my clothes back on, dimly registering the fact that my phone and iPod were still in my pants pockets. The sight of the body didn't bother me too much, probably because I've played so many violent video games. I mean, God of War 3, Prototype, Dead Space, sheesh. It's the mass murders and grotesque mutants that get to me, not just a perfectly normal dead body. I was just pulling my shirt over my head as Zaeed relieved the dead guard of his pistol. He stood and turned towards me.

"Let's go, kid. We have to hit up the armory for gear. And Jessie." Zaeed started jogging towards the exit of the cell block with me following closely behind. I knew all about his interesting releationship with his rifle, so I didn't bother asking about it. I did think that it was pretty cool that I'd get to see it in action though. That's definitely something I couldn't have seen in the game.

We left the cell block and set to running through the station's hallways towards the armory. At least, I hoped it was towards the armory, I was just going off what Zaeed said.

"You sure you know where we're going," I asked.

"I memorized the layout of this place as they brought me in and escorted me around from cell to cell," he said. "We're getting close." We turned down yet another corridor and kept running. I decided to pass the time by finding out any more stories about Zaeed. As cool as his in-game stories were, he didn't really go into too much detail when he was telling them to Shepard. Of course, that's because he was only a computer program of some sort back then, but he's real enough now.

"So, tell me, how'd you end up in here," I asked. Zaeed laughed.

"That's a good story. I was contracted by a batarian to kill some turian. I don't know their names, it doesn't matter. What this batarian "neglected" to tell me, was that he and this turian were working together. They set a trap with the intention of killing me. I guess they were afraid that their competitors or something would try to get me to kill the pair of them later, so they were trying to make sure that didn't happen. Anyway, I showed up at the place the batarian had told me to go for the assassination and I found an army of mercs waiting for me. I managed to take out 37 of the bastards before they brought a whole wall down on my head. The batarian decided to have me brought here instead of killing me. Maybe he wanted to try to make an example of me. Doesn't matter. He'll regret it."

I chuckled. "I can only imagine what you're going to do to the two of them, Zaeed," I said. I suddenly found my throat pinned up against a wall by Zaeed's forearm.

"I don't remember telling you my name, Joseph." Crap.

**Author's Note: Don't kill me! I really didn't want to end it like that, but if I started getting into anything more, I wouldn't have been able to stop, it'd be a 10,000 word chapter! Hopefully, this went well with the fans, the inclusion of Zaeed and the possible explanation for his prison story were just bugging me to no end, I had to do it. I've got the weekend to plan now, but I have so much work to get done, it's ridiculous, so I doubt I can write. This is the first chapter I actually managed to write out completely before typing it up, that's a milestone for me. Hope you liked it, review if you wish. It always makes me happy! ALSO, if you haven't noticed by now, I do a daily update of my profile, so check by daily to see the progress I'm making on the next chapter!**


	4. The Great Escape

**Author's Note: I wanted this out by Friday, but I think the length and quality of it kinda makes up for the day's wait. I'm not saying anything now, wait til the end of the chapter.**

Well, I just screwed myself, didn't I? Zaeed pressed his arm up against my throat. It was getting kind of hard to breathe.

"So tell me," Zaeed said, his voice deathly calm. "How do you know who I am?" My mind raced. _I'm not supposed to know anything! Why did I say his name?_ I couldn't come up with an explanation, not this fast. I needed to buy some time.

"Zaeed," I said. Or rather, tried to say, it came out more like a squeak than a word. Zaeed realized that he was almost choking me, so he lessened the pressure on my neck slightly, allowing me to speak. "Ok, look, Zaeed. I know that you probably don't trust me right now." The look on his face definitely confirmed that. "But we're going to have to work together to get out of here." It started getting hard to breathe again.

"Wait," I rasped. The pressure lessened again. _This isn't going well. _I cleared my throat. "I can't tell you how I know who you are-YET! Yet!" That prevented him from suffocating me for the moment. "I need to speak with my comrades first." Zaeed narrowed his eyes. I'm pretty sure he knows I'm not telling him the truth, or at least the whole story. The way he was looking at me told me that he was seriously debating about whether or not he should kill me. I decided to try convincing him one last time.

"Zaeed, I'm not Alliance or Cerberus, and I'm not here to kill you. I just need to talk with my friends, then I'll tell you everything you want to know. After we get off this station, of course." Zaeed stood silently, his eyes boring a hole into my very soul. Ok, maybe that's a little extreme. Regardless of the intensity of his laser beam stare, all I could do was wait for him to let me go, or kill me. _Hopefully, it's the first option..._ Suddenly, Zaeed lowered his arm and stepped back from me.

_I'm...alive?_ My legs were shaking in relief. I felt like collapsing to my knees and thanking him profusely for not killing me, but that probably wasn't a good idea. Zaeed spoke up.

"It's only because you're a goddamn kid that I'm letting you live, because I doubt you're what the batarians say you are. But know this. If you try to betray me, I WILL kill you. Understand?" I nodded my head frantically. Zaeed nodded his once in reply.

"Good." Then he set off running through the halls again, with me following behind. _How the hell did I get out of that? I was sure Zaeed was going to go all Kratos on me right there. Note to self: Do not screw up like that again. I'm not supposed to know anything about this universe._ We rounded a corner and came face to face with a locked door. Zaeed stepped up to an actual door panel off to the side.

"This place is so goddamn old, it uses actual buttons for the doors," he said in disgust. He fiddled around with the panel for a few moments before stepping away from it. "I can't open the door! It's unhackable because of the goddamn buttons!" I took a closer look at it. _Zaeed's right, you can't hack this, not with an omni-tool or anything like that. We could splice the actual wires...no, we'd need tools for that. Wait, wires!_ One of Garza's lines from Killzone 2 popped into my head._"Just pry the panel open and...rip all the fucking wires out."_

I motioned for Zaeed to come help me out.

"The hell do you want, kid," he asked. I ignored his hostility and told him "Just help me pry this panel off." It took a little while to get a good grip on the thing, but once we did, we quickly removed the metal plating from the panel, exposing the wires inside. I grabed a handful of them and yanked them out, causing the door to beep frantically, then magically unlock. I glanced at Zaeed.

"I can't believe that worked," he said. He gave me a quick nod, then we both rushed inside the room.

* * *

_Alex would have a field day in here_! I wandered in between the rows of unguarded, weapon-filled tables. Zaeed was digging through some lockers near a wall, probably looking for his gear. My eyes flicked from weapon to weapon, staring at all of them_. Pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, even sniper rifles. Who uses snipers in a space station prison? These are probably confiscated, because I just can't see guards sniping prisoners._

"There you are!" The sudden shout startled me, and I turned to see Zaeed taking a dirty and battered assault rifle out of one of the lockers. I went back to examining the various weapons. I already knew about Jessie, so no need to ask about her. It would be pretty cool to see her in battle though. That's something that was impossible to see in the game and from all the stories Zaeed had about her, she sounded like she was a devastating weapon. It'd be interesting to see Zaeed against these prison guards. _Speaking of which, why aren't there any around here? _I turned around to ask Zaeed and found him standing right in front of me, fully armored and ready to fight. He thrust a large case of some kind into my hands. It looked like one of those weapons cases from my time period.

"Here," he said. "Put this on and grab some guns." He walked away and began equipping himself with each type of weapon. I hefted the case. It was fairly heavy, maybe made out of some plastic/metal mix. That's what it felt like, anyway. I found the clasps and unsealed the case, opening it to reveal a set of armor.

"Wow," I breathed. The armor was jet-black and looked form-fitting. Nothing special to this universe, but it looked amazing to me. I had only ever imagined being able to wear something like this back home. I'd seen cooler in the actual game, like the Kestral armor for example, but even getting a basic suit like this was incredible. I lifted out the individual pieces and began putting them on.

* * *

"Hurry up," Zaeed said. "We don't have all day." I struggled to get the final clasp on my boots sealed.

"I'm trying!" Zaeed sighed and went around gathering another set of weapons. I managed to get the clasp shut just as a pile of guns were dumped on the floor in front of me. I looked up at Zaeed.

"What are these for," I asked.

"For shooting," he said. "You think we were going to just walk right out of here?" I glance nervously at the weapons. I was actually going to end up shooting somebody. I'll just have to hope that video games prepared me for this. Although seeing as how I actually laughed when I was shooting the innocent civilians in the airport level of Modern Warfare 2, I think I'm enough of a psychopath to deal with this. I picked up and placed the guns on my back, surprised at their weight. _Shepard handles them like they don't weigh anything, these things are actually kind of heavy_. With all the guns on my back, it felt like I was carrying around my backpack from school. Except the pistol weighed next to nothing for some reason, but I wasn't complaining.

I stood and bounced up and down a few times, making sure the guns wouldn't fall off. Then I drew my pistol and raised it to my shoulder with my right hand.

"Let's go," I said.

* * *

Zaeed and I took cover behind the doorway that led to the prison's secondary control center. Using his omni-tool, Zaeed had remotely hacked into the prison network and downloaded schematics for the whole station, along with the guard patrol routes. Using this information, we managed to avoid the few guards patrolling in this sector. Most of the batarians were situated around the general population of the prison, as was the main control center. The secondary center controlled only the non-critical systems, isolation wing, and the decon cells. Due to its location, we were here to get the access codes to the decon cells and then go rescue my friends.

Zaeed looked at me, silently asking me if I was ready to go inside. I let out a long, slow breath, then nodded. He nodded once in response, then hit the door switch. The door slid open silently, and we rushed inside, pistols raised. I analyzed the situation as I turned the corner. _Large room, computers lining the walls to the sides, lots of waist-high rectangular blocks to use for cover, batarians on the far side of the room._ I aimed down the sights of my pistol for a more accurate shot, and was about to fire when Zaeed yanked my arm down. I dropped to my knees behind one of the blocks.

"The hell do you think you're doing, kid," he hissed. I looked over the small wall I was hiding behind and saw that the dozen or so batarians were all scattered around, watching a video of some sort. Their attention was completely focused on the screen, we had gone unnoticed. And I almost ruined it. I sat back down.

"Sorry," I whispered. "Didn't see they were distracted." Zaeed quietly smacked me upside the head. I'm sure he would've done something worse, but we had to stay quiet.

"Obviously," he said. He looked over to see the batarians for a few seconds, then sat down again. "We gotta take these guys out." He put his pistol away. "Quietly." Since when did my life turn into Metal Gear Solid?

Zaeed began moving up towards the batarians, hiding behind the various pieces of cover. I followed behind him just in case he needed backup. It went smoothly enough through basically the whole room. Zaeed would sneak up behind one of the guards standing on the other side of the block, then he'd jump up, grab the guy, drag him to our side, and snap his neck. Watching him reminded me of the second level of Uncharted 2, actually. Zaeed killed everyone in the room like this until we got to the far side.

There were only two guards left, but they were sitting on opposite sides of the room, their bodies angled towards the screen and each other. If one guy was killed, the other would see it, which meant both needed to be killed simultaneously. So I had to help. _Figures. My first murder has to be via neck-breaking instead of just putting a bullet into them. _Zaeed gave me whispered instructions on how we were doing this, and how to break his neck quickly, then we both got into position behind our targets. I leaned to the side to see Zaeed doing the same, and he gave me a thumbs-up. I leaned back and got ready to launch myself at the batarian above me. _3...2...1...now!_

I jumped up and leaped forward to grab the batarian at the same time Zaeed did. Unfortunately, this particular guard had super reflexes and had already leaned forward to go help his buddy when I was making a grab for his throat. I missed and ended up tackling him to the floor. The shock of it had stunned both me and the batarian for a split-second, but the guard recovered faster and broke out of my hold before I could do anything and ran for what I assume was an alarm button. Zaeed was screaming at me for screwing up as he tried to ditch the body in his arms and get out a weapon, but it was obvious he didn't have the time.

The guard was just a few meters away from the alarm, so I didn't have time to think, I just reacted. I whipped out my pistol in a quick draw and started firing wildly at the batarian. Apparently, I had the extreme luck to drill a bullet right in the back of the batarian's head. He collapsed to the floor, dead, his hand outstretched to hit the alarm.

I slowly lowered my pistol, unbelieving of what I had just done. I rolled from my side onto my back, staring at the ceiling in relief. Insanity must have set in at that point because I started laughing like crazy. A few moments later, I heard Zaeed join in too. I sat up and looked at him to see him sitting on one of the blocks.

That was the most accurate quick draw I've ever seen," he said. "That, or you were just unbelievably goddamn lucky. I was sure he was going to set off that alarm right there." I got up off the floor, my armor slightly impeding my movement.

"We aren't out of the woods yet," I said. "Let's free my friends and get to that ship." Zaeed quickly walked over to one of the terminals lining the room and fiddled around with it while I kneeled next to one of the dead batarians. The bodies weren't really bothering me, I guess all the violence and death in video games really did prepare me for this. _Although, that's probably a bad thing..._

I realized that I should probably get an omni-tool from one of these bodies. I needed one to interact with pretty much everything in this universe, and as harsh as it sounds, the guys laying on the floor didn't. As I patted down the batarians for an omni-tool, Zaeed was deep inside the prison network. He had located the access codes for the decontamination cells already and downloaded them onto his omni-tool, but he was still searching for anything else useful. He came across the key codes for the entire general population cell block, along with the activation sequence for the airlock's bulkhead. Zaeed smiled, then transferred all of the information to his omni-tool.

I activated the omni-tool I finally found and stared in wonderment at the device that I had no idea how to work. "Never seen one of those before?" I turned to see Zaeed standing with his arms crossed, watching me. I stood up and deactivated my new omni-tool.

"Well, I've seen people use omni-tools before," I said. "But I've never actually used one myself." He shook his head jokingly.

"Just another thing I'll have to teach you about," he said. "AFTER you tell me how you know my name." Oh. That. "Let's go get your friends. The faster we move, the better, and I've got one hell of a surprise for these batarians waiting." We set off towards the decon cells, Zaeed leading the way. I thought about how I was going to make up an excuse for Zaeed as we moved through the halls.

_I can't tell him the truth, that's just not a possibility. I can't tell him I'm a secret agent since I already said I wasn't. Learned about him in school? No. Heard about him on Omega? No, that can be disproved. I'll think of something..._

We reached the door to the decontamination cells. Zaeed walked over to the door panel, hit a button, and we stepped through the now open door.

* * *

Jake sat dejectedly up against a wall in his cell, Ricky mirroring his position across from him. Jake sighed, causing Ricky to glance up, then go back to thinking. Jake guessed he was thinking about everything that had happened. _I can barely believe this is happening. Stuck in a prison, surrounded by aliens, probably going to die. Our family's dead, our friends are dead, everybody we knew is dead. Joseph's off by himself somewhere in this hell and we're stuck here about to be escorted off to be with the rest of the inmates._

The sound of the door to the decon cells echoed through the hallway. "Here's the guard with our prison jumpsuits," Jake said. Ricky nodded without looking up. Jake looked through the transparent cell door and almost fell over in surprise when Joseph and some old guy came into view, both wearing armor and wielding machine guns of some kind.

Jake shouted "Joseph?"

* * *

I smiled one of the largest genuine smiles in my life. "Who were you expecting," I quipped. Zaeed brought up his omni-tool and waved his arm to the side, opening all the cells in the narrow hall. Everyone came rushing out, and I caught a glimpse of one of the cells. They were basically empty metal rooms with a toilet, they must have been really uncomfortable to be in. My friends crowded around me, the same look of astoundment on all their faces. I looked over all of them, noticing everyone's eyes on me. Except for Alex. I followed his line of sight and saw that he was staring at Zaeed_. Oh, I'm not having a repeat of "angry Zaeed"._

"This is Zaeed Massani," I shouted. That made sure Alex couldn't make the same mistake I did and use his name by accident. I went back to a normal voice. "He's helping us escape from here."

"We're on a space station," Evon said. "Where are we going to go?" Zaeed stepped forward.

"The ship you guys came in on should just be finishing its refuel sequence," he said. "We make it there, and we can fly the hell out of here." I tossed my assault rifle over to Ricky, who looked surprised when he caught it.

"What's this for," he asked. I smiled.

"What? You thought we were just going to walk out of here?" I looked over at Zaeed and saw him giving me a dirty look. I almost laughed, but decided it would be better not to provoke him. I looked at the crowd of people in front of me, debating about who was going to get what weapon. _Ok, got it._ I waved Zaeed closer and pointed out Timmy, Evon, and Tillman.

"He gets a shotgun, he gets a pistol, and he gets a sniper," I said, and Zaeed gave the weapons to their respective wielders. I gave the shotgun I had to Alex, whose eyes lit up in happiness when I put it in his hands, and I gave my sniper rifle to Jake. Ricky kept my assault rifle, I felt he'd need it more than I would. That left me with a pistol, but I didn't mind. I wanted to test out my quick draw skills for real, Nerf guns back home don't count. Well, maybe they don't.

"Alright," I said. "Weapons training 101. These guns don't use ammo clips, they run off an overheat system." I was confronted by an assortment of confused stares. _Ok, Mass Effect for morons._ "Think of it like Halo! Pretend the guns are like Covenant plasma weapons, if you fire them too much, they overheat and you have to wait for them to cool off." Everyone formed a silent "O" with their mouths and started nodding. Unsurprising really, because, let's face it, EVERYONE's played Halo at least once.

Zaeed turned to me and asked "Are we ready to move now?" I looked at him and nodded. He smiled deviously. "Good. Cause I got a hell of a surprise for these batarians." He pulled up his omni-tool and hit a couple of buttons, then closed it. We all looked around. Nothing.

"Wait for it..." Seconds after Zaeed said that, all the lights in the hall snapped off, then came back on, colored an angry red with alarms going off throughout the whole prison.

Tillman shouted "The hell did you just do?"

"Released all the other prisoners in the station," Zaeed replied with a smile. Alex and I looked at each other and yelled "Shit, fuck, die!" before I turned to the exit and shouted "Move it!" We all ran out the door, guns in hand, heading to our escape ship.

* * *

"Contact right!" I don't even know who was shouting through all the chaos anymore, but I glanced to my right as I ran and saw a batarian running towards us, rifle raised. I brought up my gun and fired once, trying to make him flinch so we could run past his hallway safely, seeing as how only Zaeed and I had kinetic barriers. The bullet slammed into the guard's neck, however, bringing him to his knees, gurgling away. Our group made it past his corridor. _What is this, Bulletstorm? And since when was I such a good shot?_ Zaeed, in the lead, turned a corner and gunned down a couple of batarians in record time. _Guess Jessie's as good as he said she was._ We ran past the bodies into a room I actually recognized.

"Hey, this is that prisoner...center place," I shouted.

"Yeah," Zaeed replied. "The airlock's just ahead!"

"You sure this ship is gonna be there," Ricky asked. Zaeed brought up his omni-tool and keyed in a sequence as we ran.

"We'll be dead if it isn't!" He turned around, mouth open to tell us something, when his eyes widened in surprise. "Goddamn batarians," he yelled. I glanced behind me and saw a couple dozen battle-ready batarians streaming into the room. They brought their assault rifles to bear and opened fire. We started sprinting to the airlock, bullets whizzing all around us. We had been caught out in the open, the only place to take cover was inside the airlock. I was in the back of the group, so I was the last one to make inside. I dolphin dived through the air, screaming the whole way. I got the wind knocked out of me when I hit the floor, and Tillman started slapping buttons on the door panel as Zaeed laid down covering fire.

Tillman got lucky and closed and locked the airlock door. I stayed on the floor, panting and coughing when Zaeed started yelling.

"What the hell did you do that for," he said, advancing on Tillman. Tillman raised his hands instinctively, backing away from Zaeed.

"Woah, what'd I do," he asked.

"You just trapped us with some of those batarians, you goddamn moron," Zaeed said. I sat up, confused.

"What are you talking about, Zaeed," I asked. Zaeed turned towards me.

"I was going to tell you that I activated the airlock's bulkhead to keep the batarians out while we got the ship ready, BUT, your little friend here closed the airlock while some of the batarians were on our side of the bulkhead." Ohhhhh... "So," he said. "We either wait here for them to reopen the bulkhead and bring in reinforcements, or we retreat into the ship and face off against armored commandos in close quarters while we have a bunch of untrained goddamn kids to fight them!"

"I say we take our chances in the ship," Alex said. Everyone turned their attention to him. "We could hide in parts of the ship, possibly fight in the cargo bay, and if there is close quarters combat, Timmy and I have a shotgun." Ah, the good 'ol "I have a shotgun" line. The perfect conversation ender. _If Tali were here...wait, she's only 17, never mind. Actually, that makes her the same age as me. Ooo, maybe-no, this is NOT the time for those thoughts!_ I stood up off the floor, back to normal.

"Zaeed," I said. "This is our only chance to get out of here. I don't think you want to go back to a cell, do you? Although, they'd probably just kill us at this point." Zaeed sighed in exasperation.

"You kids are suicidal," he said. "But I've been thinking like you are for years," He smiled. "We might as well head inside, it's not like we have anything to lose."

"Except our lives," Tillman said. I give him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"Well, then we know you'll do your best to survive, won't we," I asked. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again and looked a little pale. "You'll do fine," I said reassuringly. I turned to the entrance of the ship. "Autobots, let's roll out," I exclaimed, pointing to the door. Nobody moved, they all just stared at me. I slowly lowered my arm. "Transformers? Nobody...really?" Ricky facepalmed. _Is my humor really that bad?_ I sighed.

"Fine. Let's just go."

* * *

It had a taken a good ten minutes, but the batarians finally managed to hack open the airlock and board the Fury.

"Never thought we'd have to break into our own ship," one of them grumbled. The lead batarian turned around.

"Stow it," he said. "We wouldn't have had to do this at all if you could remember to put your armor back in its locker when you take it off."

"I swear I had it in there! Someone took it!"

"Yeah, right. It's your fault we had to go find a spare." The leader raised his voice to address the dozen batarians under his command. "Alright, listen up! Since the humans have been nice enough to seal the airlock bulkhead, we're the only guards on the Fury right now. This also means that the humans have nowhere to go other than this ship. So all we need to do is clear the ship, then take off and remain at a safe distance until the prison gives us the all clear. No prisoners are to escape the station, and since this ship is the only way off it, it's our job to keep the Fury under our control." Leader brought up his omni-tool and displayed a hologram of the ship's schematics.

"The humans could be anywhere, but the two main locations they're probably hiding in would be the bridge or the cargo hold, so we'll check both locations. I want the squad to break into two teams, I'll head to the cargo hold with 6 men, the rest of you go to the bridge." Leader split up his men and sent team two to the bridge, while Leader took team one to the cargo hold, wary of ambushes the whole way. The squad reached their objective without encountering any resistance. It was too suspicious to have not discovered any sign of the humans yet.

"Squad two, any sign of the humans," Leader asked over the comm. His radio crackled with the other squad's reply.

"Squad two has made it to the bridge, no targets in sight. We will continue surveying the area until further notice. Squad two out." Squad one moved into the cargo bay, splitting up and heading past the scattered cargo boxes. Leader scanned the small alcoves on the upper level of the room. They were shrouded in darkness, perfect places for the humans to ambush the squad. If it wasn't for the fact that they were too thin for anybody but a child to fit inside. He looked around the area and saw that his men were too spread out, an ambush now would devastate the team. Leader opened his mouth to order a regroup when his kinetic barriers took a sniper round meant for his skull, sending him sprawling to the floor.

* * *

I heard the sniper round and knew that was the time to act. I burst out of the empty crate I was hiding in, and I heard the surprised shouts of the batarians all around the room as Zaeed and my friends did the same, except for Tillman and Jake. We only had a few minutes to come up with a plan when we entered the ship, so we did a quick recon and found the cluttered cargo hold. The alcoves up top were perfect sniper points, so Zaeed and Timmy, the two strongest guys on our de facto team, boosted Jake and Tillman up while the rest of us hid in the various crates. Zaeed guessed that the batarians were too stupid to check up there because they didn't know they were dealing with kids that could actually fit up there.

As I left the crate, I used my peripheral vision to check for enemies. _Cargo in front, clear left, targets right!_ I turned to my right, pistol raised and faced down a shielded, rifle-toting batarian. The batarian opened fire on me, and my shields took a few rounds as I dived back inside the crate. Bullets pinged on the side of my cover point as I stood up and made sure I was fully inside and safe. _Well, this is nice._ I stuck my pistol around the edge of the crate's wall and started blindfiring as fast as I could. I could hear gunfire from all around the rest of the cargo bay, so I assumed I was on my own.

My blindfiring caused the gunfire from the batarian to cease, there were no more bullets hitting the side of the crate I was hiding in. _Huh. Maybe..._ I poked my head around the side to check on the batarian, only for him to open fire again. I ducked back inside the crate. _Nope, never mind._

* * *

Tillman stood sideways in one of the alcoves, shooting at the aliens. "Hey, Jake," he called.

"Yeah," came the questioning reply from the next alcove over.

"Doesn't this remind you of a video game," Tillman asked.

"Is this really the time for this conversation?"

"I'm just saying that this is exactly like Halo right now. I mean, we've got the overheating weapons, hostile shielded aliens-"

"10 'o clock!" Tillman turned his attention back to sniping. He found the correct guy Jake had pointed out and shot him in his unshielded chest, bringing him down.

"Woo," Tillman exclaimed. "My kill!"

"Yeah, well, I brought his shields down!" Tillman laughed and panned his rifle's scope around, searching for more targets. He sighted a batarian frantically running around a corner, and was about to fire when the batarian suddenly flew off to the side because of a shotgun blast. Alex then turned the same corner, smoking shotgun in hand and a maniacal smile on his lips. _That kid scares me..._

"Hey, Joe's pinned down," Jake shouted. "There's a cargo box in my way, I have no shot!" Tillman looked to Joseph's location and saw an enemy standing right out in the open, shooting at an open box. Tillman gasped at the opportunity he had.

"No scope," he breathed. He lowered the gun to his chest, the lowest he could get it in the cramped space. He aimed as best he could towards his target and pulled the trigger. The shot went way off course. Tillman swore, then adjusted his aim and fired again. Another miss. Tillman focused completely on the batarian, taking a deep breath and letting it out. He adjusted his aim again and saw the batarian's shields go out as he moved to cover. Tillman knew he only had one more chance, so he hoped for the best and fired. The batarian suddenly pitched facefirst to the floor, unmoving. Tillman stood in the alcove, amazed.

"I did it? I DID it!"

"Did what," Jake asked.

"I just no scoped one of them!"

"You did what?" Tillman was laughing at Jake now, but Zaeed's shout echoed around the room.

"Listen up, kids," he yelled. "I just heard over batarian comms that we got 6 more inbound men."

"We haven't even killed these guys yet," Evon shouted.

"I know!"

Tillman raised his scope up to his eyes to continue sniping when he heard Jake shout at him from the other alcove.

"You know something, Tillman?" He smiled.

"What, Jake?"

"I'm going to get more no scopes than you. That's a fact."

"Oh, is it now? Why is that?"

"I played Call of Duty a lot back home, I was one of those guys pulling off the 360 no scopes then, I can be one of those guys now." Ricky shouted over to the two of them over the sound of all the gunfire.

"This isn't the time to be talking about CoD, guys! Focus, douchebags!" Tillman smiled as he hunted the area for enemies. _We'll see who's better..._

* * *

I rushed up next to Zaeed, who was crouched behind a cargo crate, and kneeled next to him as bullets whizzed over our heads.

"We gotta hurry this up before reinforcements break through the bulkhead," I shouted.

"It's these goddamn cowards," he shouted. "They hide behind cover so we can't get a clear shot at them!" Just at that moment, I noticed a batarian come around behind Timmy, ready to kill.

"Timmy," I shouted. "Behind you!" Timmy whipped around and came face to face with the batarian. With faster reflexes than I thought possible, Timmy brought his foot up and kicked the batarian's gun out of his hands. Timmy then threw his shotgun to the side and tackled the batarian to the floor, engaging in hand to hand combat. _Jesus, this is insane! All I have is a pistol to fight more than half a dozen shielded batarians!_

Timmy punched the batarian in the face a few times before he was pushed off. He leapt to his feet as the batarian was getting up, and swept his feet under the batarian's, knocking him back down. Timmy then somersaulted over the batarian and got behind his head, grabbed his neck and put him in a chokehold. I watched this in utter amazement.

"Reinforcements are here," Alex shouted. I started hearing extra gunfire coming from the batarian's side of the battle, meaning their other men had finally shown up. Zaeed turned to me and nudged my shoulder, getting my attention. I leaned over to hear what he had to say.

"We don't have long til the batarians open that bulkhead and overwhelm us," he shouted.

"So what do we do," I asked.

"We have to get the ship out of here! Someone has to make it up to the bridge and get us moving! Someone with an omni-tool so they can interact with the systems!" Well, that meant either me or him, no one else had an omni-tool.

"You want covering fire," I yelled. Zaeed shook his head.

"All you have is a goddamn pistol, and I'm not giving you Jessie!" Ok, so how...oh no. Hell no.

"You want ME to go?" Zaeed nodded.

"You're faster than me, and you've got an omni-tool. I'll get your buddies to give you covering fire while you make a run for that entrance over there!" He pointed to a door that was across from where the batarians were.

"This is insane," I screamed. Zaeed shrugged.

"You were for going inside the ship, you get this job! I'll call your omni-tool in 60 seconds, now get as close to that door as you can and wait for my signal!" I ran over to the box closest to the door I had to run through, crouched the whole way to avoid getting hit. I looked over at Zaeed and saw him nod, then shout for covering fire. Everybody opened fire at once, distracting the batarians from what I was about to do. I made a break for the door, sprinting the whole way. _Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap!_ I made it about halfway before bullets started heading in my direction. They pinged on the floor all around me as I neared the door. The door opened automatically as I neared it, and I dove inside, screaming. I hit the ground, and the door closed again, instantly sealing any noise from the battle off.

I stood up, panting in exhaustion. _Oh. My. God. I am never. NEVER. Doing that again._ My omni-tool pinged and lit up, a little phone icon flashing. _More than 150 years into the future, and that classic phone symbol still marks a phone call?_ I hit the icon and a link to Zaeed immediately cuts in. I could hear the sounds of the battle going on in the cargo bay, it sounded exactly like I had left it.

"Kid," he yelled. "You need to get to the bridge, now!" No shit, Sherlock.

"There isn't exactly a map around here for me to look at!"

"Follow the green line on the edge of the floor! Do it now!" I looked down. _Huh. I guess this is better than a map._ I set off running through the halls of the ship, heading to the bridge.

* * *

I was still on the line with Zaeed when I walked through a door and found myself on the bridge.

"Zaeed! Zaeed, I'm on the bridge!"

"Finally," he shouted. "Took you long enough! Follow my instructions exactly, we're running out of time!" I approached the console in the center of the room. Most central control consoles to ships are located in the center of the bridge itself, so I headed there simply out of guesswork. "Ok, kid, head to the central control console, it's the big white one in the middle of the room!" I looked at the color of the consoles lined up on the walls. Blue, red, yellow, green, orange, and white was in front of me_. Looks like I guessed right_.

"I'm there!"

"Ok, now bring up the command console and hit the button marked "disengage docking clamps", it's the orange one!" I stared at the console in front of me.

"How do I bring up the command console," I asked.

"Goddamn it, hit the big button on the left side with the wings!" I do so and dozens of little orange buttons fill the screen_. Goddamn it son of a bitch_!

"Zaeed, ALL the buttons are orange!"

"It's the top left one, hit it, hit it now!" I could hear a batarian yelling on his end.

"They've broken through! We'll have backup in less than 20 seconds!" I screamed out in panic_. This is insane, we're going to die here!"_

"KID! HIT THE GODDAMN BUTTON!" I found the button and hit it, and I felt the ship shudder as the clamps were released. "Now, engage the thrusters!"

"HOW? I don't know what I'm doing!"

"Lower left! LOWER LEFT!" I hit the button. Nothing happens. _Shit! Not good!_ I start spamming the button like crazy. Still nothing.

"Zaeed! It's not working!" I hear him curse over the comm link.

"Lower right! Hit it now, or we're all dead!" I slammed my finger down on the button and brought it back up to hit the button again when I'm thrown to the deck as the ship tears away from the prison's airlock, rocketing out into space. I could hear the cargo in the hold toppling over via the omni-tool comm, along with everyone shouting out in surprise from the sudden acceleration. The speed quickly stabilized, and I picked myself up off the floor. I noticed the comm link had gone quiet.

"Zaeed, you there," I asked. Silence. "Zaeed?" Still nothing. _Oh, this isn't good._ I rushed off through the bridge exit, trying to get back to the cargo hold.

* * *

I burst through the door to the cargo hold, pistol raised for combat. Nobody was in sight, and the room was dead silent. I stepped inside_. This place is a mess_. All the cargo that had been stacked around the room was toppled over in piles, everybody was probably buried under it. I looked around for a sign of the batarians. Aside from the blood stains on the floor, there was no sign that a battle had even been fought here.

"Hello," I called out. No answer. _They can't be dead. Not from this. _"Anybody?" I moved closer to the clutter. "Zaeed? Alex?" One of the boxes to my left suddenly moved, and I whipped around and brought up my pistol. It shifted a bit more before it got shoved to the side and Evon climbed out from underneath it. I let out a huge sigh of relief and lowered my pistol.

"Oh, Evon. Thank God, you're alive." He groaned as he climbed out over the crates to the open ground.

"Could you warn us next time before you do something like that," he asked. "Being buried alive isn't on my to-do list." He hopped down from a crate onto solid ground. I rushed over to see if I could help and he waved me off.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Let's get the others out of here."

"They're alive," I asked. Evon looked at me like I was an idiot.

"Of course they're alive," he said. "It's a bunch of boxes on top of them, not bricks. The first few fell on us, but the rest just kinda kept us from moving around. Those aliens though." He smiled. "I don't know what it was like for you in the bridge, but they went flying. They smashed into some of the boxes way back there." He pointed towards the rear of the cargo bay. "Even if they do get up, they're not finding their guns for a while. Now, come on. Help me find the rest of the guys." He grabbed a box and started trying to move it away from the giant pile of them. I smiled, then walked up and began helping move the boxes out of the way, digging through them for my friends.

**Author's Note: HAH, I'm happy with this one! Was it worth the extra wait? You can blame my PS3 for the wait actually. I was going to type it up Friday, but I got drawn into MW2 that I borrowed from Alex. I've almost platinumed it already, I haven't even played it for a week yet. So, review, hope you enjoyed this!**


	5. The Fury

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, blame laziness, my PS3, and school for not getting this out Friday, or even Saturday. Also, I had written one version of this, but I then scrapped it while I was typing it up and basically redid the whole thing from scratch. 2 important things: I have a poll up on my profile that needs votes for an event FAR into the story, and also, I would enjoy it if you PM'd me or left a review with a fictional planet name. It can't be something that exists in the ME universe, and it's for an Earth-like planet that's a human colony. There are skyscrapers and suburb areas, and wilderness areas. And Alliance bases. Just so you know. It's for something WAY far into the story, but I just realized I need the name ASAP so it can be in a news report.**

I lifted a box off of a dazed Alex and tossed it to the side. He reached towards my hand for help, so I grabbed it and hauled him to his feet. He staggered around like a drunk, bumping into the various crates scattered around the cargo bay. Zaeed and my friends burst into laughter upon seeing this and stopped searching through the boxes on the floor, seeing as how everyone had been found.

"You like you hit your head a litle hard there," Timmy called. Alex gave him a shaky thumbs-up.

"Ok den," he said in a Russian accent. That sent us all into another bout of laughter. I headed towards the group gathering near the exit to the cargo bay.

Zaeed spoke up as the laughter died down. "That was the craziest shit I have ever done," he said. "I never thought I'd be breaking out of a batarian prison with a bunch of kids."

"I never thought we'd be breaking out of a prison with an old man," Tillman said with a smirk. Zaeed looked at him and scowled before I held up my hand.

"Alright, let's not start something here," I said. "We've got enough to worry about without annoying a trained killer."

"Like what we're going to do now," Jake asked. "That's one thing we have to worry about." I turned my head towards him and nodded.

"Yeah, that's definitely something," I said.

"Well, I don't know about you kids," Zaeed interjected. "But I'm going to Omega."

"What? Trying to get away from that place is what got us in this mess in the first place," I spluttered. Zaeed shrugged.

"Then don't try to leave again. I have unfinished business there that I have to take care of though, and you kids aren't going to stop me." I remembered his explanation as to how he ended up in the prison. He was going to hunt down the guys who put him in there, that's for sure. When he wants revenge, he gets it, Vido Santiago is a perfect example of that. However, we "kids" needed to get to Earth, not go back to Omega.

"Can't you just drop us off on Earth," I asked. Zaeed shook his head.

"Earth's in the other direction from Omega. I'm not going to waste anymore of my time by ferrying a bunch of goddamn kids around the galaxy." I lowered my head in disappointment. _Great, now we'll be right back where we started this crazy journey, alone in a dangerous place with nothing except our clothes. And guns._

"Relax, kid," Zaeed said. I looked up at him. "We'll figure out what you guys'll do, but later. I gotta check these batarians, make sure they're dead. Why don't you guys go explore this ship?"

"Fine," I muttered.

"Go on then. See if you can find anything useful." I sighed, then walked out of the cargo bay with my friends following me.

* * *

I stood on the bridge of the ship we were on. I was facing a glass windshield that strongly resembled the one on the Pillar of Autumn from Halo. I felt like a total badass standing in my armor and looking out into space. My friends and I had broken into teams of two to explore, and again, I was on my own. At least this time it was my choice to be alone, even if the last time it happened, I met Zaeed. It gave me time to think about all that had happened recently, which is probably why I had chosen to come here and search the databases.

I looked at the terminals lining the room. Each was color-coded for some weird reason instead of just labeled, but it wasn't too hard to figure out what they all did. I walked over and sat at the navigation console. These holographic displays confused the heck out of me, but I hit the only button that was displayed at the time. The display expanded to reveal a miniature version of the galaxy map on both Normandys. I peered at the screen to figure out what it was showing. There was a ship in the middle of space, inching away from a space station.

I touched the ship with my finger, guessing it was us. The camera zoomed in, showing the side profile of the ship. It seemed to be about the same size as the Normandy SR-2, except it was much more blocky. It still looked aerodynamic with all the fins sticking out along the back half of the ship, but without them, it resembled a fighter jet without the wings and tail fins. Resembled is the key word.

I could faintly make out letters on the side of the ship, close to the bridge. I took off my glasses and set them down next to me to see more clearly. They didn't make it harder to see things up close, it was just easier to have them off. There were no dirt spots or anything like that to block my view that way. I leaned in closer to see what I assumed was the name of the ship. It read "SSV Fury".

I blinked in astonishment. _The second half of my favorite username for EVERYTHING is the name of the ship I escaped from prison on? That just screams "not a coincidence". And I thought the SSV classification was only for Alliance vessels too, I'll have to tell Zaeed about this._ I turned and looked around the room again. There really wasn't much I could do without knowing how to work things, so I started walking back to the cargo bay.

* * *

I followed the green line again since I hadn't fully explored the ship yet. It gave me a direct route to the cargo bay at least. As I was walking calmly down one of the corridors, the lights suddenly switched off, plunging the hallway into darkness.

"Well, that's just great," I sighed. The lights slowly faded back on, but instead of the bright white light, they were a dull orange. Hopefully, that didn't mean the ship was in trouble. I took a few more steps when I realized there was a shadowy figure leaning up against a wall up ahead, their arms crossed.

"Hey," I called out. "I see you up there!" The figure lowered their arms, unveiling the silhouette of a female. I frowned at this. Unless one of my friends was a very good cross-dresser, there shouldn't be any girls on this ship. Slightly apprehensive, I stepped forward to have a headache come out of nowhere. I grunted in pain and grabbed my head. These stupid headaches! The lights shut off again, creating a pitch-black surrounding.

I looked up at the ceiling. "Seriously," I asked. They turned on again, still orange. I looked down the corridor and noticed they mystery girl was no longer there. Or anywhere for that matter. I whipped my head around to check behind me. No one was there. _Where the hell did she go? I would have heard her running, or even walking away in this quiet hallway!_ I continued to walk forward towards the cargo bay, still looking up and down the passageway when I was suddenly tackled from behind.

"What the fu-" My shout was cut off when my face was slammed into the ground. I was smushed up against the cold metal floor as whoever tackled me laid on top of me. It occured to me that this person had a feminine form. _How did she get behind me?_ She crawled up my back in a...I guess a sensual way. It was both slightly enticing and creepy at the same time. _Good thing I have my armor on..._ She placed her head next to mine and spoke in a voice I instantly recognized.

"You will fail." With that, she quickly withdrew from me and left without a sound. I was still facedown on the floor when the lights snapped from the dull orange to bright fluorescent white. I rolled over and sat up to try to figure out what had just happened.

_That voice. That whole thing was a hallucination, just like before. Hopefully, it's because I'm tired, I've been awake for longer than usual. But what will I "fail"? _I shook my head to wake myself up. There'd be time to think those thoughts later, I had to find the others and see what they discovered.

* * *

I entered the cargo bay to find everyone except Zaeed restacking the crates scattered around the room. Alex noticed me enter the room and motioned me closer, so I headed over to him.

"Where have you been," he asked.

"I've been busy on the bridge," I said. "This ship is about the size of the Normandy SR-2, and-" Alex was giving me a weird look.

"Do you always have to be so specific about Mass Effect stuff? Can't you just say the second Normandy? No one needs to know the exact name for everything in the world, like the Normandy SR-5 or Tali'Zorah vas whatever for example."

It's vas Neema," I said pointedly. "And right now, it's actually nar Rayya, thank you very much."

"See, no one needs to know that," he exclaimed. "It doesn't matter!"

"Can I just finish what I was saying? Please? Then I'll stop being specific." Alex sighed. I took that as a yes. "Ok, as I was saying, it's about the size of the Normandy, and it looks pretty cool from the image I saw of it. Guess what the name is?"

"I don't care what it is," he said. "Just tell me so I can go back to cleaning up these stupid boxes." I was curious as to why everyone was actually cleaning, as teenagers, it's our instinct to avoid picking anything up, but I'd wait until I was finished with my grand reveal.

"This ship is known as the SSV Fury," I said with a grin. Alex stared back blankly. "Fury? As in the second half of my username for everything?"

"Oh," he said. "Ok." My smile faded away.

"You don't find that a bit weird that the ship we escape from prison on has the name of half of my favorite name?" Alex shook his head while I thought about how odd that last sentence sounded.

"Nope. It's a coincidence, it's not like it matters. Now will you help us with these boxes?" I sighed. Alex never did make the connections I could. He's more of a fighter than a thinker. Speaking of which...

"Ok, two more questions, then I'll stop bugging you. One: How did you handle that fight, and two: why are we picking this all up?"

"Well, the second question's easy. Zaeed ordered us to do this while he carried the dead batarians to the airlock to check them for credits and stuff like that. He actually had just left with the last one when you came in. Funny thing, the batarians were all dead from hitting the wall at the back of the cargo bay. Except for a couple, but Zaeed shot them before they woke up."

"And you're ok with him doing that," I asked.

"Sure," he said. "I'd have done it myself if I wasn't being forced to pick up a bunch of boxes." Psychopath, I swear.

"So, what about the first question? About the fight?"

"That. That was the most fun I've ever had in my life. Bullets everywhere, mayhem, and those shotguns! Oh, that thing's awesome! I don't think you saw me do this, but I was walking in between these containers and was just about to reach an intersection when a batarian came around the corner. My gamer reflexes kicked in and I fired, but it only took down his shields. The guy panicked and ran for it, and he almost made it around another corner, but I managed to get second shot off and he went flying!"

_Note to self: Do not anger this boy, especially when he has a weapon. Wait, he feels no emotion except for annoyance and happiness, never mind. _I turned to look at everyone else.

"How are the rest of you holding up," I called. A chorus of "fines" traveled around the room, except for Jake. "Jake, what's the matter," I asked.

"Nothing," he said grumpily. I smiled. This should be a good story, the last time he had been like this was when a guy friend of his came up and hugged him, along with a kiss to his neck. That was an absolutely hilarious story to listen to.

"Jake, what's the matter," I said in a playful voice. "You can tell me." He pointed to Tillman.

"He's the matter," Jake said. Tillman faked an astonished expression.

"Aww, what did little Tillman do to you?"

"He stole one of my kills, AND no-scoped someone," Jake exclaimed indignantly. Everyone laughed at this while Jake stood there looking annoyed.

"Dude," Evon said to Tillman. "You actually no-scoped a guy?" Tillman nodded.

"Yep," he said. "Right in front of Jake too!" I laughed even harder at that.

"There was a box in front of me," Jake said. "I couldn't get him!"

"That was your excuse for the kill steal too, wasn't it," Ricky asked jokingly.

"No," Jake said defensively. "I had brought the shields down when Tillman killed the guy."

"News flash," I said. "That's called teamwork, not kill stealing."

"Yeah, well I call it kill stealing," Jake muttered. Zaeed then entered the room carrying an armful of omni-tools.

"Oi," he shouted. We all stopped laughing and froze to the spot. "I told you to pick this place up, not stand around and have a party!" He started tossing an omni-tool to everyone except me, since I already had one. Everybody looked at them in bewilderment.

"These are called omni-tools, I'll show you how they work later," Zaeed said. "For now, I want you kids to tell me what you found while I was cleaning out these batarians' bank accounts. Quite a nice haul too..." We all took turns explaining what we had found.

Jake and Tillman found the engine room to the ship, along with what could only be the captain's quarters. Both sounded really cool from the short description of them, I'd have to check them out later. Ricky and Evon found the galley and crew quarters. Those sounded like the least interesting places, nothing much to do there. It was what Alex and Timmy found that interested me the most. The pair had discovered the ship's armory, it was apparently filled with weapons and lockers of some kind. Most likely, those lockers contained armor and helmets. They had also located the med bay, another useful part of the ship.

Eventually, it came time for me to explain my findings. "I was able to get a look at the ship from a navigation console on the bridge," I said. "It seems to be twice the size of a frigate, and it appears to be combat-ready. I also discovered the name of the ship." I paused for dramatic effect, but I guess I waited too long.

"Are you going to tell us," Zaeed asked. "Or will I have to go figure it out for myself?" Whoops.

"This ship is the SSV Fury," I said. Zaeed's expression immediately turned thoughtful, something I didn't think was possible.

"This is a batarian ship with a human name? How did you find this info?"

"I found a hologram of the ship, it had the words "SSV Fury" on the side in big letters," I said.

"This is what confuses me," Zaeed said. "See, SSV stands for Systems Alliance Space Vessel. This ship is not an Alliance ship, so why would it be called that? And have a human name? And have been made by the hegemony?" I held up a hand in surprise.

"Woah, woah, woah, back it up," I said. "This ship was created by the batarian hegemony?" Zaeed nodded.

"One of the guys I searched had files on his omni-tool. They were about him getting a top secret ship from the hegemony for an assignment. The message doesn't describe the mission, but they gave this guy and his men a fortune to do whatever they were doing. I was guessing the batarians took the money and ran to the Terminus systems to go pirate, but the name of this ship and its description changed my mind. The name is supposed to belong to a military vessel, and there's no way a band of pirates could take that over, especially if it's as big as you say it is." I thought about that for a moment.

"Is it possible that there's more info in the actual ship," I asked. "Maybe the mission details, or something important like that?"

"There might be, kid," Zaeed said. "I'll check it out while you guys finish up here." With that, he turned and walked through the exit. _More work, just what I need. I'm getting really tired now. _

* * *

I walked through the doors to the bridge. My friends had all headed to the crew quarters to get some rest after cleaning the cargo bay while I went to check to see if Zaeed had found anything important. I found the person in question sitting at one of the side terminals, examining some files.

"Find anything," I asked, walking up next to him. He glanced in my direction before going back to reading.

"You aren't gonna believe this, kid," he said. "This whole operation is a government set-up." I stared blankly.

"What? What do you mean?" He turned to face me, speaking animatedly.

"The whole thing. Thie SSV stands for Secret Space Vessel, don't ask me who came up with that crappy term. The ship was created by the hegemony to patrol the Terminus systems in search of anyone deemed to be a threat to the batarian government. The ship's highly advanced, I had no idea the batarians had tech like this."

"Tech like what," I asked. "Why is it so special?"

"First off, the armor," Zaeed said. "I have no idea where they got something like this. They call it Silaris armor, it's the strongest out there in existence right now." I thought back to the good old days of ME2. Silaris armor was supposedly asari made, how is it here?

"From what I've read of these files, the batarians are outfitting all their military ships with it, then planning on leaking the designs to the asari of all people. I guess it's a bribe to get the asari to look favorably upon them or some other goddamn political ploy." Wow. These batarians are way more sneaky and cool than I thought they were.

"Secondly," Zaeed continued. "The ship has a very advanced stealth system. It has heat sinks located in the hull of the ship, so to put it simply without confusing the hell out of both of us, the ship is undectable unless you actually see the goddamn thing. And by then, it's too close."

"Wait a sec," I said. "So, if these batarians were using this stealth system, could they board a freighter ridiculously fast?"

"In theory I guess, yeah."

"Son of a bitch! That's how they caught us! I wondered how they got on board the ship my friends were on so fast!" Zaeed nodded.

"That'd do it. If they got close enough without the pilot of your ship noticing them, they could board in record time. Now, the batarians are doing a similar thing like with their armor. They're equipping their smaller ships with this system, then giving the plans to the turians." And that explains how the Normandy uses this feature, it's a ship built by both turians and humans.

"Are the batarians planning on giving anything to the humans," I asked. Zaeed checked the files for a few moments, then turned back to me.

"No, they've got one piece of tech they're keeping. It's the drive core of this ship. It's apparently bigger than what should be able to fit in the ship, but it manages. The batarians haven't come up with a name for it yet, but they won't now that we have the only prototype." That covers the drive core I heard Tali talking so much about in the game.

"What about weapons," I asked.

"The ship has the usual GARDIAN lasers, a mass accelerator cannon, and...nuclear missles." My jaw dropped at that last one.

"This ship has a fucking nuke?"

"Several, actually," Zaeed said. "They're small and protected, no chance of radiation leaking through their containment seals. But I've never seen or even heard about nukes still being used. They're powerful weapons, but it's like goddamn overkill. If you need a weapon like that, you're either in way over your head, or you're genocidal." I shook my head in disbelief. _Unbelievable. This ship is basically a prototype Normandy. And we're on it. Holy. Crap._

"So, lemme get this straight," I said. "We're on a batarian ship that just happens to be the most advanced in the galaxy, and it's the most destructive?" Zaeed looked at the screen quickly, then turned back to me.

"Yeah, that's just about it." I almost collapsed in an overdose of excitement. "Now, the reason the batarians made this." I turned my attention back to Zaeed. Was there more awesomeness on the way?

"That prison was set up to keep people who were believed to be plotting against the hegemony," Zaeed said. "This ship would act pirate, and anybody they found suspicious, like me or you, they'd send there for the rest of their lives." I frowned.

"But how did that one batarian know to put you in the prison then," I asked. Zaeed shrugged.

"Hell if I know," he said. "Maybe that was their contact on Omega, find anyone suspicious there and send em to the prison. It makes sense to go through this operation in the Terminus systems then Council space because nobody bothers with pirates in the Terminus systems. Council space, they'd be dead in seconds, but out here, they could do this forever." Zaeed stood up and walked over to the navigation console and punched something in, then came back to me.

"I just put us on course to Omega." I nodded. "Now, if you're done with your questions, I have one for you," he said.

"Alright, shoot."

"How did you know my name?" ...Crap.

"Uhh..." I needed time to come up with a lie, and fast.

"You had plenty of time to speak with your little friends about this," Zaeed said. "So you answer me here and now." Ideas flashed through my mind and were just as quickly discarded. "Now, kid." He started looking mad. Being under Zaeed's angry gaze made me lose control of my mouth for a split second.

"Helghast," I blurted out. Zaeed looked utterly confused.

"What," he asked. _Of all the things to say, why oh why did it have to be that?_

"Uh, Helghast," I said. "It's a...political faction back on Earth. It's led by Scolar Visari and...Jorhan Stahl." I was just making up stuff and throwing it out there now. "They're former military leaders, both make great speeches, stuff like that. No, no, wait. Visari makes the speeches, Stahl plans everything out. The Helghast want to increase the size of the Alliance military, make our society more like the turians." The lie was flowing out of my mouth now, it was getting easier. "Because of this, they explain military techniques and incredible people to those belonging to the faction. My parents belonged to them, and they told me a lot about you."

"Oh really," Zaeed asked. "Give me an example of something they said."

"Umm..." I racked my brain for more of his lines from the game. "You...your first mission as an independent contractor. You and a group of guys boarded a turian frigate and crashed it on a planet, you were the only one who made it out." Zaeed leaned in menacingly.

"What was the name of the frigate?"

"The...the uhh...the Verrikan?" I hoped for the best. Zaeed held his gaze for a few seconds before he suddenly leaned back and began chuckling.

"That was a great mission. Nothing sweeter than watching that ship crash planetside. Alright kid, I believe you." I let out a huge sigh of relief. _Thank you dear lord, or whatever higher power's up there. If there is one._ I never really was one for religon, I'm more of a scientist. The guy from Angels and Demons reminds me of myself with how he deals with science and religon. Zaeed noticed the sigh and cocked his head.

"Relax kid, sheesh. You're so highstrung." I looked at him and gave a weak smile.

"Sorry," I said. "It's just been a long, insane day. If you don't mind, I'm going to go get some sleep now." Zaeed turned around and waved his hand before he started to stare out the viewport into space. I left the bridge and wandered the ship until I poked my head in a door and found my friends sleeping in a room that looked identical to the Normandy SR-2's crew quarters. I dragged my feet over to a bunk and laid down without removing my armor. I was asleep in seconds.

* * *

I woke up and immediately regretted my decision to not remove my armor the night before. My body was aching all over from sleeping an a hard combat suit. I stood up and stretched, trying to work the pain out of my system. No luck. I looked around and didn't see anybody else in the room, so I decided to go have a look around the Fury by myself.

I found the captain's quarters, galley, and medical bay, none of them were too interesting. The med-bay was similar to the SR-2's, just cosmetic differences mostly. The galley was basically the same one on the SR-2's as well, it must have been a standardized feature in ships. The captain's quarters were interesting, kind of. It had a computer terminal, bathroom with a toilet and shower, a queen sized bed, and a large television mounted on the wall. At least, I think it was a TV. People don't put up 40 inch screens for no reason.

I entered one room and was faced with the drive core of the ship. I guessed it was the drive core because I had never seen one before, and I had never seen a giant rotating...thing before on a ship. It looked like it belonged on the Death Star, like it was a giant death laser. I nearly jumped up and down in the coolness of it. It looked very impressive, like something Tali would definitely love to tinker with. I watched it go in circles for a few minutes before I left the room to go find something else to stare it.

As I wandered the halls of the Fury, I heard a voice behind one of the doors. I opened it with a smile and took a step inside, only to jump back in fright when I realized I was staring into the faceplate of a level 1 RIG helmet from Dead Space.

I screamed as loud as I could, and the person wearing it jumped back, startled. He quickly took off the helmet, revealing a worried Tillman.

"Woah, relax," he said. "It's just me." I calmed myself down before I spoke to him.

"Where did you get that," I asked, panting from my heart jumping from normal speed to supersonic.

"I found it in a locker," he said excitedly. "Isn't it awesome? I can finally be Issac Clarke!" He put the helmet back on and looked around in a heroic pose.

"How is a RIG helmet from Dead Space on this ship? That's a pretty big thing to find, figuratively speaking."

"I actually asked old man Massani about it," Tillman said, his voice slightly muffled from the helmet. "He said it's a batarian spec ops helmet, but I know the truth. It is the most awesome thing this galaxy has ever seen!" He went back to looking cool.

"Alright, you have a fun time in here," I said. "You know where everyone else is?"

"They're on the bridge. Massani's giving an "omni-tool seminar". I'll figure it out on my own time, he's doing it since we're almost to Omega. You should probably get up there and join him, the all-powerful master will need the training." I narrowed my eyes, which caused Tillman to burst into laughter. I left the room shaking my head in mock exasperation, then headed to the bridge.

* * *

We all stood on the bridge, wearing our armor and helmets. I watched Zaeed fly the Fury into a dock on Omega. This was it. We'd be dumped on the the asteroid with helmets, armor, weapons, and omni-tools while Zaeed went off to kill whoever he wanted, then come back and fly away in the Fury. Oh well. We'd make the most of it. And at least we knew how to work the omni-tools now. Zaeed connected with the docking clamps on the station, then turned around and faced us.

"Well, kids," he said. "This is it. I've got a job to take care of out here, so you can do what you want. Before I leave though..." He brought up his omni-tool and fiddled around with it for a minute or so, then closed it. Ours then pinged immediately. I went to look at mine before Zaeed yelled at us.

"Not yet, you goddamn idiots! Honestly, wait for me to explain. Now, do you remember me mentioning the fortune these batarians were paid?" Everyone nodded. Zaeed had explained the situation of the ship to my friends after omni-tool training, and then I explained how we were basically on the Normandy when we were suiting up in the armory.

"I wasn't kidding. These batarians were paid exactly one billion credits to do this job. And they didn't spend a penny of it yet." Everyone's mouth fell to the floor at that statement. "Since I'm an honest mercenary, the way I see it, we did a job together. The 8 of us. We broke out of prison together, so we share the profits." Was he about to say what I think he was going to say?

"Congratulations, kids. The batarians have just turned you into millionaires." We all looked at our omni-tools. There had been a transfer of 125 million credits to each of our omni-tools, resulting in a total of 875 million between the seven of us. I looked up at Zaeed, speechless. We were set for life now. And it was all thanks to this man in front of us. I opened my mouth to thank him like crazy when he cut me off.

"One more thing," he said. "This ship." He looked around at the walls of the bridge. "I'm a merc. Mercs don't own ships, they always just end up blowing up. Especially the ones I use, so that's why I never own a ship. So...you guys get to keep this." I could barely breathe at this point. This had to be a dream. It had to be.

"Are you serious," Timmy asked. Zaeed simply nodded.

"Yep. I've got no use for it, other than flying around the galaxy in it, and shuttles are easier for those. Not to mention, if the batarians come looking for this ship, I'm not going to be the one found with it. I don't want the batarian government on my ass because of one stolen ship." I could care less about the batarians at that moment, the man in front of us, possibly the most badass man in the galaxy at this point in time, had just given us almost a billion credits and the most advanced ship in existence.

"Thank you," I whispered. It was all I could manage. There's no real way to thank someone who just gave you enough credits for your entire life AND a super cool ship.

"Don't you dare go getting all teary-eyed on me," Zaeed said warningly. "It's just the right thing to do." He glanced one last time around the Fury's bridge. "Well, it's time for me to head off. See ya kids." With that, he promptly walked out the doors of the bridge and left. My friends and I stood silently for a few minutes before, in unison, we turned and slowly walked to the armory to get some weapons. It was Omega we were on, after all.

**Author's Note: I tried to make everything make sense as much as possible in regards to the Fury's tech, so I think that came out well. Hopefully, the ending scene with Zaeed did too, I know it's maybe a little too much, 875 million, but it makes sense to me. Review please, it makes me happy! And don't forget the poll/required planet name too!**


	6. We are Dead Echo

**Author's Note: Honestly, I can't get these stupid chapters out when I want to. I typed up almost half of it Friday night, then started working on it Saturday morning. However, I somehow managed to get 16 viruses on my computer off the Resistance wiki, and since I had yet to renew my anti-virus software, I had to restore my computer to factory default settings. Fortunately, I type my chapters up on the document manager instead of something like Word, so I didn't lose any work. I'm blaming my lateness on that when it was probably the bounce house my little brother had over the weekend because of his birthday. Fun times. As always, I felt like I rushed the ending, but who cares. Hope you enjoy it!**

My friends and I stood in the armory gathering weapons for our excursion into Omega. We had removed our level 1 RIG helmets and placed them on the table in the center of the room. Everyone was wearing the same jet-black armor I was, I guess it was some type of stealth armor the batarians used. It was slightly more bulky than the standard armor every enemy in ME2 wore, so it should be better. In theory, anyway. I was surprised that there was armor in Alex's size actually, I didn't think that was possible. Not that he's that big, mind you.

I took one of the many standard pistols out of a locker on the side of the room. It resembled the Predator pistol, but I had no idea if that gun even existed in whatever year we were in. I checked to make sure the weapon was "off", then placed it on my belt. Alex cleared his throat in an attention-grabbing way, causing everyone in the room to look towards him.

He reached into a locker and began pulling out shotgun after shotgun, tossing them to us. I silently caught one and holstered it on my back, then went digging through more lockers to find an assault rifle, along with a sniper rifle. As I dug through the stockpile of weapons the batarians had owned, Evon started a conversation. Well, tried is more like it.

"I'm not dreaming, am I," he asked. Jake turned to face Evon, who was standing right next to him, and pulled back his arm, gathering force. He then flung his hand across Evon's face, making an audible slapping sound. Evon stood motionless in shock.

"What the hell, Jake?" Jake simply turned back to attaching weapons to his armor.

"Did it hurt," Jake asked.

"Of course it hurt, you jackass!"

"Then you're not dreaming." Evon opened his mouth to make a comeback, then closed it again when he realized there wasn't really a comeback to logic like that. I stifled a laugh, trying not to get noticed. Ricky spoke up at this point.

"So, that did happen right," he asked. "We really have a crapload of money?" I put the sniper rifle I had found on my back. I had no clue what type it was, I was just hoping it was the Viper, or at least something semi-auto. Bolt-action is not fun for combat. I spoke over my shoulder, too busy with my search for weapons.

"Yeah, it happened. We are now the richest teens in the galaxy. Well, probably. Not to mention the armory full of guns that has enough firepower to equip a team triple our size, and the free ship."

"Question is, what are we going to do with it," Timmy asked. I raised a finger to make a point.

"That...is a very good question," I said. "What are we going to do?"

"Well, if we're going to try to join the team of that one guy you mentioned," Tillman said. "Then we should probably get some sort of combat training. Going off to save the world won't work if we're idiots." I nodded my head slowly.

"Makes sense," I said. "As badass as we were in that shootout, we're really amatures."

"Amatures don't get no-scopes," Tillman said.

"Yeah, immature little kids do," Jake interjected. Tillman smiled. The bait had been taken, time for a little fun.

"So, I guess that makes you an immature little kid," Tillman said. I frowned as Jake slowly turned his head towards Tillman. _Hopefully, these two won't be at each other's throats our whole lives._

"Why am I immature, Tillman?"

"Because you told me you were the one getting no-scopes in COD, and you said immature little kids do that. 2 plus 2 is 4, Jake." Jake shook his head.

"Yeah, that's a video game. This is real life, there's no room for showing off."

"Oh, really? Cause I did, and it was easy."

"Alright, stop it you two," I said. "Sheesh, you guys are like a dog and a cat in the same room." Tillman shrugged.

"Hey, it's fun," he said. "Besides, we don't really mean it. We're good friends." I raised an eyebrow.

"You became good friends in the small amount of time you've spent together?"

"Actually..." I turned my attention to Jake. "I probably should have told you this sooner," he said. "But Tillman and I knew each other before you got us together. He was at a birthday party I went to a while back, we've kept in touch since then."

"Really," I asked. "Wow, that's kinda weird that you knew each other. You sure you're just messing around?" Tillman nodded his head enthusiastically, as did Jake. "Alright then. Let's keep getting ready." I opened yet another locker and found a rack of assault rifles facing me. _Sweet!_

"So, what are we going to do," Alex asked. I paused while I removed one of the rifles from the locker.

"You know," I said, placing the rifle on my back. "I don't know. I thought about it while I was getting my stuff together. If we go to Earth, we'll just get thrown into an orphanage or something, and our ship, gear, and money will be confiscated, then we'll have no chance of joining Shepard's squad. We're too young to join the Alliance, and nobody is going to hire a teenager for work."

"We don't need work," Ricky said. "We're set for life!"

"Well, think about it," I replied. "Do you really want to be sitting around doing nothing for five years? It wouldn't be fun."

"I think it would." I waved a hand at Ricky in exasperation.

"No, Ricky, that's just you." I double checked that we had everything, other than heavy weapons. The ship seemed to be missing the cool stuff like grenade launchers and black hole guns. I grabbed my helmet and put it on, activating the seals when the helmet latched into place.

"We'll continue this conversation in Afterlife," I said. "I want to be doing something other than standing in a little gun-filled room with a bunch of guys."

"But guns are awesome," Alex exclaimed. I rolled my eyes. Only Alex would say that.

"That may be, but you know what's better?" Everyone focused on me. "Asari dancers," I pronounced. Ricky's eyes widened, along with Jake's and Evon's. _Hah! I win. _I began walking out the door, waving my friends along.

"Come on, guys," I said. "Let's go see those asari!" Alex gave me a nasty look before he put his helmet on, causing me to laugh. I headed towards the airlock, my friends behind me.

* * *

I walked through the main door to Upper Afterlife with my friends in a rough squad formation behind me_. Like a boss_. I confidently walked over to the same booth we sat at before, and settled into my seat, my pals doing the same. We kept our helmets on to look cool.

"Ok, so first order of business," I said over the loud techno music and conversations going around the room. "What to do with our lives for the next half a decade? We've covered going back to Earth and doing nothing." Everyone stayed silent. "Nothing," I asked. "No ideas?"

"You're the expert here," Alex said. "I don't know what we're doing. I didn't even get that "Team Dextro" phrase you told me last week until you explained it." I sniggered. That was funny, watching him act like an ignorent fool. _Or maybe I'm just a smartass...no, no, he's an ignorent fool._

"Well, for the moment, I got nothing," I said, glancing around the room. As heavily armored and loaded with weapons as we were, we hadn't drawn much attention to ourselves, which was a good thing. My eyes wandered around the room, taking in the sights.

I could immediately tell Jake, Ricky, and Evon could care less about the conversation. From the way their helmets were angled, they were focused completely on the dancers. _Unbelievable..._ I kept looking around. There was a turian at the bar getting a drink, people dancing and talking, nothing special. I glanced over to where Aria normally stayed. I saw her bodyguards in their usual positions, watching for trouble, and I flicked my eyes up to the balcony area to see if I could catch a glimpse of the infamous Pirate Queen. My eyes glanced over the balcony before I whipped my head back to a forward facing position. _Fuck._ I glanced back up to the balcony and saw the same thing I did before, then my eyes shot back down. _Nope, it wasn't my imagination._

Aria T'Loak stood facing our table, her gaze intensely focused on our group. _Oh, crap. This can't be good._ I risked another glance up again. Aria turned and motioned for a batarian guard to come closer and whispered something in his ear. The batarian nodded, then turned and walked away, leaving my sight line with Aria still watching us. I took a deep breath. _Maybe she likes the look of our helmets?_ Then I saw the batarian she talked to walk down the stairs to her balcony and make a beeline for our table.

I quickly faced forward and tapped the table loudly to get my friends' attention. They all turned their heads towards me.

"We got company," I muttered. The batarian stepped right in front of our table. My hand instinctively went for my pistol. The only batarians I had talked to or interacted with so far had been less than friendly.

"Aria wants to speak with you," he said. "Now." My friends, besides Alex, cocked their heads quizzically, wondering who Aria was.

"Whatever happens, just let me do the talking," I said. I stood up and edged out of the booth, then began walking calmly, or so it seemed, towards Aria, the batarian and my friends following me.

* * *

I approached Aria's platform, the Pirate Queen's back to me. I stood with my hands behind my back in a respective manner. At least, that's what I hoped it looked like. The batarian walked up to Aria while my friends stood behind me on edge. The looks we were getting from everyone around us certainly didn't make us feel welcome, so we were on high alert, ready for a fight. The batarian whispered in Aria's ear...thingy, and she waved him off. The batarian went back to his post, and Aria then raised a hand and waved me forward. I cautiously stepped forward until she stopped me.

"That's close enough," she said. I stood waiting for her to begin the conversation. She looked out over Afterlife for a few moments before she spun around to face me, her arms crossed.

"I'm curious to know why an SIU squad is in my club," she said. It was an unspoken order to tell her what we were doing there. And I'd do it too, if I knew what she was talkng about. One of her guards, a turian, spoke up.

"What's the SIU," he asked. It's a good thing he's the one making a fool of himself by asking instead of me. Aria's expression turned furious for a moment before she calmed down. I guess she doesn't like interruptions.

"I'll let that slide because you're new," Aria said. "But don't ever interrupt me again with a silly question, unless you want to die." She turned her attention back to me while simultaneously answering the turian's question. "The SIU is the batarian special forces, the Special Intervention Unit. They haven't been seen outside batarian space in decades, so I'm wondering why a squad of them is standing in front of me." _Zaeed wasn't kidding when he said these helmets were batarian spec ops helmets._

"Oh, ma'am," I said. "We aren't batarian, we're human." I had to immediately clear this up so I didn't have Aria's forces chasing after us. She visibly stiffened when she heard human voices instead of batarian emanating from the helmet.

"If you're human, then why would you have a set of SIU armor and helmets," the Pirate Queen asked. I figured it was better to tell the truth then lie, I remember from reading one of the ME books that she could easily tell when someone was lying to her.

"We took this gear off a squad of dead batarians," I said. "We killed them in the process of escaping a batarian prison." Aria raised an "eyebrow" at that. _Crap, I'm making us out to be some elite death squad right now._

"YOU escaped a batarian prison? That's a likely story," she scoffed. I gave a quick nod.

"It's true. We broke out, and ended up killing some guards that were on our escape ship."

"I find it hard to believe that you escaped a prison and killed an SIU squad with the people you're with. Especially the fat one." I glanced behind me at Alex and saw he was staring down a turian.

"With all due respect, he's not fat," I said, turning back towards Aria. "It's just an illusion to make him seem less effective than he actually is." I was sweating at this point. If I said the wrong thing, then we might end up dying. Aria silently regarded me for a few moments before speaking again.

"You really did all the things you say you did? " I nodded. From the way she asked that question, it sounded like she was going to be nice to us if I said yes. As nice as Aria can get at least.

"I may have some use for you then," she said. I was still nodding like an idiot when her words registered in my brain.

"Wait, what," I asked. Work from the Pirate Queen was pretty much always dangerous from what I had seen and read of it, so I wasn't eager to do whatever job she wanted us to do. Especially if she thought we were some type of ninja commandos that could take on anything. I opened my mouth to correct her when Aria raised a hand to stop me from speaking. _Apparently, she's psychic..._

"If you're as good as you say you are, then I have a job for you," she said.

"We might not be available for hire right now," I said. I wanted to discuss our options with the guys first. We hadn't even figured out our plan of what to do yet, I didn't want to go making a big group decision without speaking with the group. Things like that get people mad, and I like having the ability to keep everyone happy, it's one of my strengths.

"You have 24 hours to be available then," Aria said simply. "I'd like to test out the people that angered the batarians enough that they got thrown into a prison, but if you can't, I'll just find someone who can do what I want."

"Alright, we'll get back to you," I said. Aria turned around and waved me off, so I headed back down to the table we were previously sitting at with my friends following me. I slid into a seat and waited for the others to sit down before I started talking.

"Ok," I said. "Who wants to start?"

"What the hell just happened," Evon asked. "I don't even know what was going on, and I was listening!" I thought about it for a moment.

"I guess you could think of that as a job interview," I said.

"How was that a job interview," Timmy asked. "It looked more like that was...I don't know what that was."

"Well, think about it," I said. "She thinks we're batarian special forces because of what we're wearing, so she calls us up there. Once she finds out we aren't batarians, she tries to find out how we got our gear. I tell her, and she realizes she has a powerful team in front of her."

"Or so she thinks," Jake interjected. I nodded my head.

"Exactly," I exclaimed. "We're just kids! The only reason we got out of that situation was probably because of Zaeed, but now Aria thinks we're an elite death squad that can take out whatever gets thrown at us!"

"Who is Aria," Tillman asked.

"Ah, she's the leader of Omega basically. As long as you don't mess with her, she won't care about you. Except in our case apparently..." I said. "Anyway, what do you want to do about this?"

"Well..." Alex said. "I don't want to be bored for the next 5 years or so, and I love shooting people. I say we take the job."

"Who said there'd be shooting," Ricky asked. "I don't want to be fighting!" My friends quickly divided into two sides, Ricky, Tillman, and Evon against doing the job for Aria, and Alex, Timmy, and Jake for it. I was kinda apathetic about it, either way, we'd figure something out.

"Hey, we have 24 hours, right," I asked. "We should just relax, maybe explore a bit before we make a decision. Personally, I think we should go get some food, I'm starving." Not really, of course, nobody who says that actually means it. At least, most people don't.

Alex looked down and patted his belly before looking up and nodded in agreement. It was hard to tell who was who in our armor, we should do some customization when we get the chance.

"Alright," I said. "Let's go get some food." Everyone squeezed out of the booth and I had just begun walking towards the exit when I heard Tilman mutter something.

"Does this place even have human food?"

* * *

We sat at some restaurant we had happened across, eating ramen noodles. It wasn't my first choice of food, but since nobody, including me, had any idea what most of the food was, we went with the simplest option that had the least chance of making us lose our appetites. The owner of the place, batarian, of course, had a small television on a news channel, displaying events that had no impact on us at all.

"So, Ricky," I said. "How's life?" He looked up, big stream of noodles being sucked into his mouth. Obviously, we had removed our helmets in order to eat, placing them in our laps. He finished sucking in his mouthful of noodles before answering.

"It's good, I guess. Yeah, it's good," he said.

"Nice, nice," I said. "Life's treating me well too at the moment." Ricky nodded, an awkward silence between the two of us. A few seconds passed before I broke the silence.

"Ok, well, you keep on enjoying your food, I'll just be over here. Eating, you know."

"Ok," Ricky said. "You do that."

"I will," I said. I turned back to focus on eating and watching the reporter on the TV. It was always fun having those little conversations with Ricky, I used to do that all the time in school. I watched the news for a few moments, listening to boring stuff. _Pirate raid, Council decisions, batarians complaining, boring!_ I glanced down to look at my watch, then realized I couldn't since it was underneath my armor.

"Great," I sighed. I called the owner over, and typical batarian, he wanted nothing to do with me.

"What do you want, human," he asked.

"Hey," I said, trying in vain to be friendly. "Do you have the time?" The batarian looked at me like I was an idiot, which I probably was since I could have found it in my omni-tool. Eventually. The owner brought up his omni-tool and looked at it for a moment before answering me.

"It's 19:08 galactic standard time." Without waiting for a thank you, he turned and walked away from me.

"Thanks," I called out, then went back to watching the news. It looked like something interesting had finally shown up. A female reporter sat behind a desk in a news studio reading a report.

"In an interesting turn of events," she began. "A team of archeologists have discovered an ancient network of towers on the human colony of Reach." I damn near choked on my food right then and there, causing everyone around me to stare at me. I frantically pointed at the screen while I was hacking my lungs out. This was another cross-universe thing, like our helmets being in this universe. Except, this time it was an entire fucking planet. The news reporter continued with the story.

"The archeologists were hoping to unearth some Prothean relics when they detected some strange readings from underground. Upon further investigation, the team discovered a large tower buried underneath the planet's surface. The lead archeologist on the team had this to say on the subject." The camera cut to a different setting, inside some research base with a man speaking. The man's name was displayed on the bottom of the screen like all news interviews do, except this guy's name further astounded me. His name was Michael Altman.

"Our team was scanning the planet for Prothean relics when our instruments registered some odd readings from underground," Altman said. "They didn't match with any known readings ever registered, so we investigated the area and located a massive underground tower of unknown make and origin. We briefly scanned the rest of the planet looking for any more signals and discovered the entire planet is scattered with these towers! They are all interconnected via underground tunnels and conduits, but their purpose is unknown." This guy just didn't stop with his revelations!

"Shockingly, preliminary tests indicate the towers are millions of years old, predating the Protheans! This is the first major evidence of an alien race that existed before the Protheans, a fantastic find for the galaxy. Scientists and archeologists from all corners of the galaxy are coming to investigate these perfectly preserved structures." The report ended, returning to the news reporter who began describing planet Reach. It matched the actual Reach that was in Halo back home perfectly, if not slightly changed due existing in this universe.

Reach in this universe basically swapped the UNSC for the Alliance, all other characteristics were exactly as how I remembered from playing Halo. The planet had a major military presence, as well as a strong civilian presence, and it had the large circular bodies of water. I sat there, dumbstruck from hearing this news.

_Unbelievable. Just...unbelievable. Michael Altman from Dead Space is in this universe, and so is the planet Reach from Halo. Could this day get any weirder?_

"Umm..." I looked over at Tillman. "That said Altman, right," he asked. "The guy from Dead Space?"

"And Reach from Halo," Jake asked.

"I think so," I said. "Unless I'm still dreaming this all up." Evon started to say something before Alex cut him off.

"I think we should think about if we're doing that job for Aria before we start thinking about new stuff," Alex said.

"Right, good point," I said. "Let's do that and go tell her our decision." Everyone kept the same decision they did before, leaving the choice up to me this time. As risky as doing whatever she wanted was, it was better than sitting around doing nothing. So...

"I say we go do the job," I announced. "And that means it's 4-3, my favor. We do the job." There were three simultaneous sighs, but I ignored them and stood up from my seat, walking off in the direction of Afterlife with my crew behind me.

* * *

"We'll do it."

My announcement took Aria by surprise, causing her to whirl around and see me standing in front of her, my friends standing cautiously behind me.

"What was that," she asked.

"I said we'll do it," I repeated. Aria smiled.

"Good. Now, from watching you the last time you were in Afterlife, you were comfortable in here, so I'm guessing you know the only rule on Omega." I nodded in agreement. _Ok, I can see where this is going._

"A small group of red sand suppliers have decided to cut me out of the deal we arranged and they are now refusing to give me a profit on the red sand they sell." This is sounding very similar to the Retribution book. "I want to send a message to this group," she continued. "I want you and your friends here to go retrieve their most recent shipment and deliver it to me." Ok, this is exactly like the beginning of that book.

"I take it this group won't like us taking their stuff, will they," I asked.

"Of course not," Aria scoffed. "But that's why I'm sending you. You took on an SIU squad, this should be simple for men of your caliber." _Wow. Hopefully, this won't be too hard, since we aren't actually that good, at least I doubt we are. If we screw up, we can always run away to another planet or something though._

"What can we expect in terms of defense," I asked. Aria looked at me oddly.

"Were you military," she asked. "You seem like it in terms of abilities and how you ask questions."

"No, no former training at all," I said. "We're just good, I guess."

"Hm. Well, the group has a mix of turians, batarians, and humans. It's about twenty people strong, shouldn't be hard for you seven." I stayed silent. It probably was going to be hard in fact. "The group is getting their shipment in tonight, in just a few hours. I'll have one of my men here give you the coordinates before you leave." I nodded, accepting my orders. We had a mission, and it would either work out, or it wouldn't. _Hopefully, it's the first choice. As always._ I turned to leave when Aria stopped me.

"One last thing," she said. "Then I'll let you prepare." I turned back to face her, feeling like a badass with my helmet.

"What's your name?" I kept quiet for a moment, thinking about what to tell her. _I could use my real name, but why do that? Someone could have overheard it before we went to the prison, and if they told Aria we're just kids, she might get rid of us. No, I'll just use something fake. Something I know well._ I cocked my head to the side, acting curious.

"You can just call me Thunder." I heard Alex groan behind me. _I'll take care of that later. _The Pirate Queen nodded.

"Alright," she said. "Talk to Anto over there." She pointed to one of her batarian guards. "He'll give you the location of the job." I nodded and turned to talk to Anto when Aria called me back again.

"Thunder." I faced her once more, getting slightly annoyed. "Don't screw this up," she warned. I nodded again, a silent confirmation, then went to talk to Anto.

There wasn't any talking required actually, he simply handed me a datapad with a map of Omega on it, a specific hanger marked. I took it and glanced at it, then walked off towards our usual table. My friends and I sat down for the third time today. This table is becoming our "discuss life plans" area very quickly.

"Ok, really," Alex asked. _I KNEW this was coming._ "Thunder? That's your name?"

"Hey, in my defense, it sounds cool," I said. "I needed a name, and I picked one."

"Why didn't you use your normal name?"

"Half because I wanted a fake so somebody who overheard us talking the first time we were in here doesn't tell Aria who we really are, and half because Thunder is a really awesome name. Not to mention, I have the Fury now."

"You mean WE have the Fury," Alex said. Even though no one could see my face, I smiled.

"No," I said. "I have the Fury. Thunder's Fury. Like Thunderfury." I started to laugh while Alex just shook his head.

"Oh, come on," I said. "It's funny!" After I calmed down a bit, Jake asked me a question.

"So, does doing this job make us mercenaries?"

"You know," I said. "I think it does."

"Don't we need a name then," Ricky asked.

"Well, we don't have to have one, but if you guys want one, I guess we can," I said.

"What if we called ourselves the Brotherhood," Evon asked. "Like in Assassin's Creed?"

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," I said. "That name's crap."

"What about the A-Team," Jake asked.

"Eh, it's cool, but it doesn't have the factor I'm looking for," I said.

"And what are you looking for," Timmy asked.

"Something that sounds vaguely futuristic and cool. Hopefully, it'd get the same impact as mentioning Shepard's name does-I mean will. People recognize it instantly and think he's cool, but if you heard he was coming for you, you'd be terrified. Something like that." We sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking about an awesome name before an idea hit me like a rock. It was so perfect, I don't know why I hadn't seen it before.

"Dead Echo," I said. Everyone looked at me in confusion. "Don't you see," I exclaimed. "It works perfectly! It's the squad name from Bulletstorm and sounds cool and a little futuristic, right?"

"Ok," Ricky muttered.

"The full name is used for explaining who or what we're going after, like "Dead Echo's coming for you", or "Dead Echo's on its way", but it can also be used for number designations, like Echo 1, or Echo 7 for us. Commands could be given just by using Echo, like "Echo, do this", or something like that. The name also has a bit of sentamentality for us. We should be dead because of what we've been through, so that's where the Dead comes into play, but you could also say we're the last echoes of our universe, for the use of Echo, so Dead Echo makes sense, right?"

"I guess that works," Alex said. "It sounds badass enough for me to use."

"I concur," Ricky said. "Well, actually, I don't care. But it sounds cool."

"Sure," Jake said. "Why not? I like the sound of it."

"Dead Echo it is then," I said.

"What," Tillman spluttered. "I didn't even get to vote!"

"It's 4-3, my favor," I said. "Again. Your vote wouldn't have mattered." Tillman crossed his arms.

"Fine," he muttered. "I was going to vote for the name anyway."

"Alright then," I said with a smile. "Let's go check out that hanger and figure out what we're doing." We all scooted out of our seats and headed towards the job location as our new team, Dead Echo.

**Author's Note: Wozzeck, that's kind of a poke to your Brotherhood, lol. I decided to just use Reach as the planet name(obviously) due to its circular bodies of water, but a huge thanks to greed11 who took the time to give me that huge list of planet names. I wasn't sure if it was too early to reveal Echo's name, but I decided to go with it now, and deal with it later. To those of you who haven't noticed yet, there's a poll on my profile, and I update my profile pretty much daily. I occasionally skip a day or two, but I try to stay on top of it as best I can. Hope you enjoyed chapter 6, and now that you know where chapter 7's going, you can anticipate that. Please review. If you wish. P.S. Naming this chapter took my at least ten minutes, I could not figure it out.**


	7. The First Job

**Author's Note: Ok, sorry for the HUGE delay. I had stuff going on last weekend, then I got a bunch of new games, so I gave up and put it off til now. This is my story going back into a balanced state from chapter 2 being released so fast, chapter 7 gets released later. So, don't forget my profile updates daily on story progress, I've got a poll, and...that's it. Enjoy as always!**

The job location was a two-tiered hanger, the ground floor a wide open space with some scattered supply crates while the 2nd level consisted of a walkway that lined the edges of the room. It too had a few objects that could easily be used for cover in the inevitable firefight.

I glanced around the room, my eyes taking in the surroundings. I immediately began coming up with an ambush plan, my years of combat experience going to work. If you can call gaming combat experience.

"Ok, well, it looks like the walkways up top are good sniping positions," I said. "The doors leading to the adjacent hangers up there could be a problem though."

"Yeah, people could come through them," Tillman said. "But for a beast like me, that won't be a problem." I heard Jake mutter something about Tillman's statement, but it was just muffled enough from his helmet that it was unintelligible.

"Is there a good place for a shotgun ambush," Alex asked eagerly. "I want to use my power weapon here!"

While Ricky pointed out good ambush points, A.K.A. places to hide from the bad guys, Timmy tried to discreetly move away from the group. He was intently focused on the area, looking for...something. Who knows what he was trying to find, he never really voiced his thoughts too much. _He's quiet, and apparently a hand-to-hand combat master. Just like a ninja! Hey, ninja, that could be his codename._

Timmy sidled up next to a wall and began examining it. It looked like he was staring at a specific panel mounted to the wall. Timmy suddenly whipped out his pistol and fired four accurate shots at the corners of the panel. Everyone in the room flinched at the explosion of sound and stared at Timmy. We all watched the panel lean off the wall, then fall flat on the floor, revealing a crawlspace on the other side. Timmy holstered his gun on his waist, then crawled inside the opening.

"Umm...okkk," Jake said. "That was weird." Timmy poked his head back out into the room.

"There's a bunch of little passages down here I can crawl through," he said. "It looks like there are places I could come out through the floor from below, should I surprise our "friends" that way?" My mind was still distracted by how strange the situation was, but I managed to get a response out.

"Sure, I guess," I said. "That'd be good." With that, Timmy gave a curt nod and ducked back into the wall. The rest of us had our eyes blankly staring at the open part of the wall before we turned back to each other.

"Alright, when was the last time that guy saw a psychiatrist," Ricky asked.

"I second that," Alex announced.

"Ok, I admit it," I said. "That was a little odd-"

"More than a little," Evon interjected. I glared over at him, but it didn't do much with the helmets on.

"More than a little odd, fine. But it's a good strategy, who expects the enemy to come out from under your feet?" Tillman raised his hand and spoke.

"I do," he said. I took a guess at the reason he thought that.

"Too much Dead Space, huh," I asked. Tillman nodded his head. I went back to figuring out how we were going to handle this.

"Well, if we have the chance for an ambush," I said, "Then we should probably use it."

"We could all be up on the 2nd floor in a sniping position," Jake announced. "That'd work well, we could take 'em out like that."

"That could work, but what if they got us pinned down? I think we should have a few of us sniping and a couple down on the ground floor with assault rifles." I saw Alex's shoulders slump when I said that.

"Shotguns could be used as well," I said, mostly for Alex's benefit. His mood immediately brightened, as evidenced by his body language. _That kid's going to get some sort of Zaeed/Jessie thing going on, I just know it. _

"So those who want to snipe, head upstairs," I said. "Those who want to be in the action down here, stay here." Timmy poked his head out of the wall again. "Timmy, you can stay where you are if you want." He silently vanished into the wall again. I never knew that he was so weird, but then again, I'd only ever seen him in school.

Tillman and Jake sprinted for the stairs to the upper level when I said for snipers to go upstairs. They began fighting for the spot with the most cover and viewing range, but it wasn't my problem. Alex unholstered his shotgun and looked at me, giving a silent confirmation that he wanted to be down here. Ricky made a move for the stairs, then stopped to think for a moment. It didn't take him too long before he began moving towards the stairs again, his decision made to stay as far away from the shooting as possible. Evon patrolled the outer area of the ground floor, trying to decide on the best place to be.

I shifted my focus to the minor squabble on the upper floor. Jake and Tillman were arguing over a well-protected area when Ricky walked into the midst of their argument and picked up one of the cargo boxes, carrying it over to a different location. The argument ceased and both Tillman and Jake watched Ricky walk away before they looked back at each other, then grabbed their own box and moved to another position. I smiled at their antics. _Life should never get boring with these two around._

I noticed Alex staring me down still, holding his shotgun. I turned my head to face him.

"You know, that is really creepy."

"Where should I go," he asked. "It's too open down here." I looked around the room. _He's right, there's practically no cover around here._ Evon seemed to have just reached the same conclusion I had, and walked over to me.

"I think we should be on the upper level, then come downstairs when we need to," Evon said. "The wall that prevents people from falling off the side of the stairs makes good cover, and Alex is still close enough to the hanger floor to use his shotgun."

"That's not a half-bad idea," I mused. "We can do that. Let's get into position then." I jogged over to one of the sets of stairs to prepare myself for the upcoming battle.

* * *

It had been at least two hours since we had settled into our spots. It didn't occur to me when we got into position that we had to wait a couple of hours until our targets showed up, but that realization set in quickly. We couldn't leave the hanger just in case the dealers showed up early, so we were stuck in a hanger with metal floors and walls while wearing combat armor. There was almost nothing to do. The conversation had dried up a long time ago, so now, everyone was fiddling around with their omni-tools.

I flicked through some of the settings. This thing was incredibly complex, it was a good thing Zaeed had given us all a brief tutorial on how to work them. Except for Tillman, but from the way he was rapidly tapping icons, he seemed to know what he was doing. As I was in the middle of figuring out how to access the extranet, the little phone icon from before popped up on my screen. I looked at quizzically before touching it, wondering who was calling. Tillman's voice emanated from the omni-tool.

"Come over here," he said. "I have something to show you." I stood up and stretched my back, hearing a couple of cracks and pops. Sitting slouched up against a hard crate was really uncomfortable, especially so when you've been in that position for a couple hours. I looked around and saw an armored figure staring at an open omni-tool, but beckoning me over to him. I walked over in his direction. _We really have to customize this armor, we all look the same._ I crouched down next to Tillman.

"Whaddya need," I asked.

"Give me your arm," he said. Strangely enough, his voice came out of my omni-tool instead of his helmet. I slowly extended my arm out, a bit nervous about not hearing a sound out of Tillman's helmet. He grabbed my arm and furiously typed a sequence into my tool and doing who knows what else. A couple minutes later, he spoke again, but his voice was now coming through my helmet instead of my omni-tool.

"Pretty cool, huh," he asked. I reared back in surprise.

"What the...how is your voice coming out of my helmet?"

"I won't bore you with the details," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "But I rerouted the communication feed to go through your helmet speakers. I'm still working on activating and deactivating the external comms, but this would let us have our own private conversations in public places without anyone overhearing us once I figure everything out."

"Wow, that's pretty cool," I exclaimed.

"Yep! Only problem is people can link into our feed and listen in if they're good enough to do that, but I'm pretty sure I can find some program that'll warn us if someone tries."

"Tillman, that is awesome. Can you get the others to have a set-up like this?" He nodded.

"I can do it now if you want me to. I don't have anything better to do at the moment." I called everyone over, including Timmy, who took priority since he had the toughest hiding place.

In the middle of Jake's set-up, Timmy called us.

"We have a problem," he said. I tensed up. _He's not stuck, is he? _

"What is it," I asked.

"They're here." Everyone immediately scrambled back to their positions, ready for battle. We'd planned and practiced, we were completely ready for this.

"When are they going to get inside the room," Evon asked.

"They are inside," Timmy replied. I frowned.

"Um, no, they're not," I said. "How long have you been down there?"

"When I said we have a problem, I meant it. They're in the hanger, just not this one." Everyone froze instantly. _So much for being completely ready._

"What do you mean they aren't in this hanger," Jake asked nervously.

"I can hear them in the hanger next to us," Timmy said. "I know it's them because I heard a ship land, then voices talking about red sand, which is what we're after." My face paled.

"You mean that they aren't coming in here," I squeaked. "Ever?"

"Nope. I can get right underneath them and pop out though, the passageway leads right under their feet." I looked at my friends assembled in front of me, and their helmeted heads turned towards me. I could tell we were all thinking the same exact thing. _Oh. Crap._

"We need to go," Alex stated. "Now." I nodded frantically.

"Yeah, yeah," I said quickly. I pointed towards the door to the next hanger. "Tillman, Jake, Ricky, through there. Timmy, you get right under them, and you two-" I pointed to Evon and Alex. "You're with me." I turned and started jogging to the ground floor exit, forcing Evon and Alex to catch up to me.

"Where are we going," Evon asked.

"We're gonna walk in the front door," I said confidently. "See what happens." Underneath the helmet though, I was as nervous as hell. Our plan was in ruins and we were going into hostile territory with no information as to enemy strength or positioning. This is gonna be fun...

* * *

I keyed the door access and strolled inside the now open door, Evon and Alex on my six, weapons drawn. Alex had his shotgun out, Evon with an assault rifle. I immediately started to analyze the situation the moment I walked in the door.

There were seven to eight soon-to-be hostiles grouped around a small ship. Half that number was offloading cargo while the other half was standing guard. The guards bristled when the three of us walked in the room.

"The hell are you in here for," one of them asked. "You should turn around right now before I blow your head off." The people unloading cargo stopped what they were doing and drew some pistols off their belts, sensing a fight. It was kind of obvious there'd be one. The men spread out around the center of the room, far enough apart from each other so a grenade wouldn't injure all of them, but close enough to the center of the room that Timmy would be a threat. If that's where he'd even pop out. I glanced up at the walkways above quickly. Hopefully, the three friends I had up there were in position and ready to shoot. It wasn't like I could ask if they were set up.

"You have to the count of three before we shoot," a guard said. They readied their assault rifles. _Guess it's time to go all "action movie" on these guys._

"Ok," I said. "You have two options." The guards lowered their weapons slightly. _Good, I've got them distracted._

"Option A: You give us the red sand, and we walk out of here quietly, no questions asked. Option B: I make you give us the red sand." The men in front of me all glanced at each other, then burst into laughter when they looked back to me. I stood impassively as they stood laughing. The one who had been speaking was the first to calm himself.

"You know," he said. "I think I'm going to go with option B, just so I can see you fail miserably." I shrugged.

"Your call," I replied. With that, a panel in the exact middle of the room's floor was sent flying skyward, Timmy leaping out of the opening and grabbing a guy by the neck, snapping it instantly. The men took aim to fire at Timmy's sudden appearance when a sniper round penetrated the kinetic barrier and helmet of another guard, causing the dealers to panic. I drew my assault rifle as Alex and Evon opened fire and spread out towards some cover.

Evon used the dividing wall between the stairs to the second floor and the rest of the room for protection while Alex ducked behind a couple of boxes, blindfiring his shotgun. I rushed forward, firing on full auto, spraying bullets everywhere. I noticed the 3 snipers up top were actually using their scopes and taking this seriously instead of trying to do stupid things like no-scoping.

The dealers were on the retreat, backing away towards whatever cover they could find. Once they managed to get behind some boxes, we all realized they were pinned down. As long as we didn't do anything stupid, we had this in the bag.

Timmy was using the man he had killed when he attacked as a meat shield, inching towards the nearest box he could take cover behind. He reached a tall, upright crate and dumped the body on the floor, drawing his pistol to begin shooting. He poked his head out and almost got it shot off, so he pulled back and looked in my direction. I took the hint and laid down some covering fire with assault rifle bursts to keep the enemy suppressed so Timmy could use his ninja skills to take a guy out. As I was shooting, Timmy peeked around the corner and found a guy who was shielded from my bullets, but was open to his own line of fire.

I watched Timmy out of the corner of my eye. He poked his head around the corner, then took aim with his pistol and fired a single shot. I saw a body fall down, dead from a headshot. _That guy is a total sharpshooting ninja. Unbelievable._

* * *

Jake kept his eye to his rifle's scope. These guys were tricky, they knew there were snipers up top and were keeping their heads down accordingly.

"So, you going to try for a no-scope," Tillman asked. Jake ignored him. This was too important to be joking around. Bullets suddenly began pinging off the crate right next to Jake. He ducked back down, as did the other two snipers.

"Damn," he exclaimed. "That was unexpected!"

"No kidding," Ricky said. "I'll just stay down here so I don't, you know, die." Jake looked over the edge, only to have to duck down again as bullets ricocheted around him.

"I think we're done sniping," he said. "I'm going downstairs." He rushed over to the nearest stairs, head down the whole way. Tillman glanced over at Ricky briefly, then hurridly followed Jake. Ricky let out a sigh.

"Figures they leave me here all alone..."

* * *

I finally had to crouch down beneath a container. The bullets gravitated towards anybody left out in the open, which is normal, I suppose. Alex was looking a bit antsy when I glanced over at him. I don't think he managed to eliminate anyone yet, so I guess it was time...

"Alex," I shouted. He looked over at me. I lifted my gun to aim down the sights and looked back towards him. Somehow, he figured out my meaning and nodded silently. I stuck my gun out over the top of my cover and opened fire, providing covering fire for Alex.

Alex rushed forward with his shotgun at the ready. He performed a combat roll as he moved towards the enemy. He got close enough to one of the dealers, but Alex didn't have time to bring his weapon to bear before he was gunned down. Alex quickly dropped to the floor and slid under his target's legs, pointing his shotgun towards the ceiling as he did so. When Alex had his gun's barrel right under the guard, he fired. The force of the bullets hitting in such a small cluster actually flung the man a few feet into the air before he dropped back down, dead.

Alex then quickly aimed his weapon towards another enemy a few feet away and fired again, killing the guard. Alex's shotgun had come close to overheating by this time due to firing twice in quick succession, so he was forced to take cover. Unfortunately, there wasn't any nearby. He grabbed one of the dead bodies close to him and pulled it on top of him to protect himself. _That's not a bad idea actually..._

I saw Jake and Tillman come down the stairs and around the corner before they rushed up towards me.

"Hey," I breathed.

"Jake looked at me for a second before answering.

"Hi," he said. "We almost done here?"

"What," I asked playfully as bullets whizzed over my head. "You don't enjoy being shot at?"

"No, not really!" I shouted over to Timmy.

"How many left?" Timmy held up three fingers, then went back to whatever tactic he was using.

"Ok, we got three guys left," I said to Jake. "If we rush them, we should bring 'em down fast." Jake looked a little nervous about the prospect of this, but oh well. I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" I got ready to stand up and shoot. I looked over at each Alex and held up three fingers, then gave him the move up signal. I held up my three fingers again, then lowered them one by one. _3...2...1!_ I stood up and rushed forward, firing with wild abandon.

"LEEROY JENKINNNNSSSS," I shouted as I ran past Alex who was in the process of standing up. The rest of my friends opened fire, carefully avoiding Alex and I as they moved up as well. The remaining guards were shocked to see a group of lunatics on a suicide charge, and didn't fire surprisingly. I gunned a dealer down with my assault rifle, then dropped to the floor to keep myself from being shot in the back. Evon hit a guard in the leg, causing him to drop while Jake brought his rifle scope to his eye and nailed the last guy in the chest, dropping him to the floor.

We stood with our guns still raised, aiming towards where the enemies were for a few moments before lowering our guns.

"That went pretty well," Alex said.

"Yeah, we did that very nicely," Evon agreed. "Nobody got hurt too."

"Really," I asked. "That's a relief, I thought that maybe...where's Ricky?" Everyone started looking around. There were only six of us down on the ground floor. _Oh no. Please don't have been hurt._

"Was he hit," I asked Jake and Tillman. "Where'd you guys leave him?"

"He was upstairs," Tillman said. "He never came downstairs with us..." The moment I heard the word upstairs, I began hurrying over to the stairs. I rushed upstairs and found Ricky lying on the floor. I literally ran over to him and crouched next to him. _Please be alive, please be alive..._ I rolled him over and recieved a punch to the face. I stumbled backwards onto my rear.

"God dang it, Ricky," I exclaimed. "What was that for?" He sat up and stretched before facing me.

"Sorry," he said with a yawn. "Fell asleep." I looked at him in disbelief.

"Fell asleep? Really?" Ricky nodded and stood up. "How did you fall asleep in a firefight," I asked.

"I can fall asleep in English class," he stated simply. I thought about that for a moment. _That actually makes sense, surprisingly._ I heard Timmy yell upstairs.

"Hey, found something!" Ricky grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet, then we both walked back downstairs.

"So, whaddya got for me," I asked as Timmy had the top half of his body almost upside down in a crate. He straightened up and turned around, tossing me a bag filled with a red powder.

"This is what we were looking for, right," Timmy asked. "Red sand?" I looked more closely at the red powder. _Red...check. Sand-like powder...check._

"Yep, we got it," I said. "Is it all in that container?" Timmy nodded and pulled out a couple more bags. I told everybody to take one in order to bring it all back to Aria.

"All right," I said, once everyone had a bag. "Let's go."

* * *

Anto walked up behind Aria.

"I've got a merc group here to see you, ma'am," he said. "Said their name's Dead Echo." Aria didn't even bother turning around.

"Never heard of them."

"The leader said he's got something for you. His name's Thunder." Aria turned around, her eyes widened in surprise.

"By all means then, send them up."

I strolled up to Aria, my hands free from carrying bags of red sand. I had given my bag to Evon to hold so I didn't look like an idiot as I talked to Aria.

"Well, well," she said. "You actually are as good as you say."

"Better," I stated. "You sent us to the wrong hanger, but we still managed to complete the mission." Aria's gaze hardened, and she turned to look at Anto.

"You said the information was accurate," she said coldly. Anto stared her down for a few seconds before turning away, unspeaking. Aria's eyes narrowed before she turned back to me.

"I'll deal with him later. But for now..." She snapped her fingers together and a few people came forward and took the bags away from my friends.

"Business," she said. "I believe 3,000 credits is sufficent payment, especially the sand will go for at least double that." I nodded respectively.

"That's just fine," I said, accepting her offer. It wasn't like the money mattered anyway, we had enough. Aria nodded curtly.

"Good. Now, I'll request that you leave. If I need you again, I'll let you know." I nodded again.

"Whatever you need." Then a thought occured to me. "Before I leave, would it be possible to spread word of our services? We aren't exactly as well known as, say, the Blue Suns." Aria thought this over for a moment before agreeing.

"I think that's reasonable," she said. "If someone comes to me with a problem, I'll direct them to you. In some cases at least."

"Thank you," I said, then turned to leave. I walked down the stairs of Aria's hangout with my friends.

"So...what now," Ricky asked.

"Well, we should probably get some supplies," I said. "Food or stuff like that, then head back to the Fury and relax. We have the time to do that."

"Yeah, let's do that," Jake said. "I'm kinda tired from the fighting."

"Ok, let's go then," I said, and we headed back to the Fury.

* * *

A couple of weeks had passed since the job. We had spent most of it lounging around doing absolutely nothing. All we had was the television in the captain's quarters for entertainment on the Fury, we needed to go out and buy a games console some time. My friends and I had figured out the sleeping arrangements in our spare time. The captain's quarters was basically our relaxation room, nobody used it for sleeping. It was viewed as unfair if someone was allowed to use it, so we all just slept in the crew quarters.

Tillman had quickly become the resident tech expert in this universe. I was good with the things from our universe, but omni-tools and things like that boggled my mind. Tillman had latched on to them like ticks on dogs though. He was very proficient at interacting with the ship's systems, along with other things. He taught us how to have private comm links between each other so nobody could hear us talking, and he installed that program he talked about before into our suits.

Our suits allowed for a heads-up display which was like a basic version of an omni-tool. Tillman said he'd upgrade it eventually, but it was pretty cool for now. Everybody had purchased new clothing to fit in when we weren't in our armor, seeing as the clothes we had on us when we came here were too retro. My iPod and iPhone still worked surprisingly, and Tillman managed to get all my music from my iPod to my omni-tool, which sent the music through my helmet speakers. Combat would be a lot more interesting because of that. He hadn't quite figured out how to get my movies on my phone transferred, but I was confident he'd figure it out.

As of now, I was buried in the ship's database looking for info on how to fly the damn thing. There was no manual for the ship, it required "special training". The databases didn't have any information on this training though, so I was becoming more and more infuriated.

"This is unbelievable," I shouted to no one in particular. The bridge was empty except for me. "Another file locked down by this "Operations Network". You know what, I've had it, I'm going to see what this so-called Network is." I ran a search for it in the databases. It came back with a single result. I tapped the file and looked at it in detail.

"Ok, let's see here...status...offline, figures. Name...Tactical Reconnaissance Operations Network. Wait...no way. No way!" I took the first letters of each word and put them together. "T...R...O...N. TRON. Wow. Seriously, just...wow." Tron was an actual thing in this universe. That's...weird. I ran a search for Tron on the general extranet. It came up with all the normal results that it would have in my time. It was a character in the movie, blah, blah, blah. All that mattered was that Tron was on this ship. I double-checked the status.

"Offline," I thought aloud. "Let's see if I can get it online!" I searched the settings and found the activation icon, but big surprise, it didn't work. I just recieved a message telling me that the hardware was physically offline and needed to be reactivated from the "core".

"There's no computer terminals on this ship though! Well, except for here, but that doesn't count apparently..." An idea popped into my head. The ship seemed smaller on the inside than it did on the outside, so maybe... I pulled up two separate scans of the ship, one of just the outside frame, and another of the inside deck. I overlapped the two and discovered that from the looks of things, there should be a second deck to the ship below the first. _But how would you get there? There's no stairs. And where are the weapons this ship has? They'd have to be on this hidden deck!_

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. If the weapons needed maintenence or "calibration"-I shuddered at that word. Poor Garrus gets some sort of love affair with those calibrations, I swear. But the weapons have to be somewhere, and we've been all over this ship and haven't found them. Hmm...I looked at my watch. _Sheesh, 11:29? No wonder nobody else is around. Guess it's bedtime._ I closed the screens I had opened up and headed off towards the crew quarters. Everyone else was already asleep when I walked in, the lights dim, so I was trying to be as quiet as I could. But of course my omni-tool rings.

Everybody was startled awake, and I hung my head in mock shame.

"Sorry," I said under the angry gaze of my friends. "Lemme just..." I answered the call after checking the number. I didn't recognize it, but that didn't surprise me.

"Dead Echo here," I said. A male voice replied.

"I have a job for you." I smiled, the lights automatically brightening and my friends shaking themselves out of their drowsy state to listen in.

"I'm listening..."

**Author's Note: Good stuff, huh? Hopefully... Going to Disneyland in less than 12 hours, but I'll be back to get my next chapter up. It should be interesting, just as this one was. Hope you liked it, review as always. Make me happy.**


	8. Hello, TRON

**Author's Note: Chapter 8, here we go! Most of what I have to say is at the end, so enjoy!**

I rolled to the side, dodging the missle flying through the air towards my head. I righted myself and took aim with my assault rifle on the human who had fired it, his hands now empty.

"Give it up," I yelled. "There's no point even trying anymore!" The man, dressed in white casual clothes, simply regarded me before turning around and leaping to the top of the 3 story apartment complex behind him. I stared at him blankly for a few moments before I sprinted to the outer wall of the building and began climbing it as fast as I could.

I reached the top and pulled myself up to stare into the eyes of the man standing on the opposite side of the roof.

"This matter is beyond your domain," he said in an almost ethereal voice. It was hard to describe the qualities of it that made it almost non-human.

"Oh, yeah," I challenged. "What makes you think that?"

"You are a squirming larvae refusing to evolve. Cease this futile resistance and awaken."

"The day I stop fighting against you is the day you and your kind are finally dead!"

"Turn over your weapon and join with us. There is no greater tragedy than to die at the hands of friends." I let loose an animalistic snarl of rage, raising my weapon at the same time. The man shook his head sadly.

"If you could have seen what I have seen..." He flicked a hand in my direction and I found myself suddenly soaring through the air, off the edge of the building. I could hear his voice echoing loudly within my head.

"Through my will..." I fell towards the ground, a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I braced myself for the impact.

"The universe shall be reborn!" I was only a couple feet from the ground when I opened my eyes. Literally.

* * *

I jolted upright in my bunk, slamming my head into the hard metal above me. I fell back down with a grunt of pain, my heart pounding in my chest from the terror of hitting the ground from such a height. It took me a few moments to calm myself and accept that what just happened was all a dream. _I HATE when that happens._

I sat up with a sigh, rubbing my head. _Normally, my dreams aren't that weird. Being flung off rooftops by crazy people is a far cry from killing zombies. _I glanced around the room to see who else was awake. I appeared to be the only conscious person in the room, all my friends were asleep. I looked down at my watch, which I could actually see now since my customized armor was kept securely in the armory, as was everyone else's.

The time was 5:42 AM, which explained why everyone wasn't awake yet. Except for me. Following last night's discussion, which was filled with plenty of speculation on the mysterious job offer we had recieved, we all stayed awake for an extra hour or so, meaning we should be sleeping in. But now that my mind was active, I knew I couldn't fall back asleep, so I quietly slid out of bed, grabbing my phone as I did so. I decided to head to the captain's quarters and do something on my phone.

I had yet to even hit the button for the internet on my phone, since it's not like it would work, but I had several games I could play and a book to read. I could also watch something like Star Wars: Episode 3 or Iron Man 2. I mainly just wanted to relax on the huge bed and try to make myself tired. I needed more sleep if I was to meet with our mystery employer and discuss the job later in the day.

I drifted down the corridor to the captain's quarters, thinking about last night. _I wonder what the next job will be. Hopefully, not another drug retrieval. Something stealthy would be fun, especially with my new custom armor._

I opted to keep the black armor given to me by Zaeed, but I had added an orange outline to the suit. It reminded me of something out of Tron. Timmy kept his armor unchanged while Tillman had tried to emulate the Dead Space armor as best he could. He succeeded. Partially. Evon had made his a dark green and Ricky settled on a solid navy blue. Jake's armor was something he called urban camo. To me, it looked like a random assortment of grey and white cubes, but it's not my armor. Alex told me he was still planning his color, so his was still the default black.

As I walked down a particularly empty hallway, my grip on my phone weakened and it fell right out of my hand. I silently cursed at my own clumsiness and began fumbling around in the dim lighting to find my phone. _How can it slip out of my own hand? It's a good thing that wasn't a gun, and nobody saw it. Wait, what's this? This is...this is a support for the handrail. But why is it loose?_

I gave it a little shake and it wiggled around like it wasn't attached to the actual handrail. _Fantastic manufacturing, batarians. Couldn't have been bothered to even bolt it to the actual handrail, huh? Cheap bastards..._ I used it to support my weight as I pulled myself to my feet, but I must have put too much stress on the thing because I soon ended up back on the ground with the support bent almost parallel to the floor. I let out a sigh, and a loud "clunk" followed right afterwards.

I froze, staying motionless. _What was that?_ The wall in front of me suddenly rose, splitting off a section of handrail and revealing a bright white light. I immediately shielded my eyes with my hand, half due to the light, the other half because I was afraid I might have accidentally just discovered a portal to heaven and would be assaulted by angels. A few seconds passed before I realized that I was not under attack by winged people and I lowered my hand.

An elevator-sized room awaited me, the light strips on the room's ceiling the source of light. My drowsy mind took a moment to put two and two together. _It's an elevator-sized room because it IS an elevator! I found the second deck!_

I stood up and quickly found my phone on the ground thanks to the light. I picked it up and stepped inside the elevator. The wall descended to its normal position and I felt the elevator begin moving down towards its destination. _The way this has been going so far, I might have just found the Batcave. _Within a few seconds, the elevator reached the other floor, and I was faced with a small hallway with another door at the end of it. I cautiously stepped out of the elevator and made my way over to and through the other door.

I was faced with a large circular room. It was big enough to have a Mantis gunship in the middle of it and you could still have plenty of space around the circumfrence of the room. Going along that train of thought, I noticed the center of the room, the place that a Mantis could be placed, had a floor pattern that suggested it could open. As in "open to allow a gunship to fly in and land". That would be freaking awesome.

The large room also had doors at each of what would be compass points. Fortunately, this room actually had lights on, probably because it had yet to be connected with the main systems. The lights in the other deck dimmed at night, but those could be overridden during flight. _If we ever learned how to fly this ship._

I traveled in a clockwise direction, checking each room as I went along. The first room, marked Maintainence, was filled with tools and work benches. I could see Tillman modifying his suit to look exactly like a RIG down here. _Having him mod our helmets probably wouldn't be a bad idea either, maybe make us not look like batarian spec ops. Since they're RIGs already, I'll ask if he can make them into a higher "level", both in software and appearence. _Before I left, I noticed a prison cell in a dark corner of the room. _And that would be where I was held on this ship the first time. Nice to know we have a jail on board._

The second room, marked Weapons, confirmed my suspicions about the nukes. I found a larger version of the weapons room located on the SR-2 in front of me. I never really learned the actual name for that room, but the one on the Fury looked similar at least. It had a single over-sized cannon that I assumed fired from the bottom of the ship like an underslung grenade launcher, a GARDIAN point defense laser control, and the nukes. The nukes. There were ten of them, all in a separate container. These containers would be loaded into a firing tube and launched at their target if they were ever needed.

The Fury had the capability to kill millions of people with these nuclear weapons, and the batarians had them installed on their best ship. If there was ever a situation where one of these things needed to be used, it would not end well. For anybody. The Reapers are probably going to be one of those situations. I left the weapons station after quickly checking everything. I didn't want to stay a second more than I had to around those WMDs, no matter how safe it was supposed to be.

I checked the third, and final, door. It read "AI core". The realization hit me like a brick. _This must be the hardware that needs to be reconnected to bring TRON online, which means...TRON is an AI. We have a fucking AI onboard our ship. Is there anything it DOESN'T have?_ I opened the door and stepped inside.

There were four...I'd call them servers, arranged in a square around the room. I knew AIs were functional because of quantum blue boxes, but I had no idea how to even hope reconnecting something like this. Especially when some of the panels were torn off and loose wires were dangling around. The servers looked like they had been forcibly disconnected for some unknown reason, as the four blue boxes were in fact black since there was no power being funneled to them. I circled each of the four boxes, eventually finding a panel that only had two wires disconnected.

I bent down and reattached the two wires together. The blue boxes immediately let up, a quiet hum filling the room. I looked around in awe. I had just activated an AI, possibly the only one in the galaxy, just by plugging two wires together. Then it occured to me that I could go reactivate him on the bridge. My face lit up with joy with the thought of actually being able to talk to someone intelligent, and I raced off back to the bridge.

* * *

I keyed in the sequence that brought me to TRON's activation the last time and the button popped up on screen. I almost hit it in my energetic frenzy when a thought struck me_. What if this AI was offline because he went rampant? Or whatever term they use in this universe. I could be dooming us...nah, it'll be fine. Besides, he knows how to fly it, and we don't_. I hit the button.

Instantaneously, the dim white lights on the bridge snapped to an angry red, and the ship shuddered like a thing possessed. I grabbed on to the nearest chair, all the while screaming at my own stupidity_. Why the fuck did I do that? Oh God, I'm dead_! A few seconds of a 7.0 earthquake later, the lights and ship went back to normal.

I clutched to the back of my chair, panting. I was completely unwilling to relinquish my hold on it, lest the ship go all poltergeist on me again. I was in the middle of waiting for someone to burst through the door to the bridge asking what happened when a screen resembling a text chat window popped up. My attention shifted to this anomaly, and words began appearing on-screen.

[Human.] I stared at the screen, unsure of what to do.

[Where are the batarians?] I glanced around the room.

"Uhhh...can you-" The response came before I even finished my question.

[I can hear and see you. Where are the batarians?]

"Ok..." I said. "They're, um...they're dead." There was a few seconds of a pause before a reply.

[You are sure?] I nodded my head.

[...How did you come to be in possession of the SSV Fury?]

"My friends and I took control of it as we escaped the prison."

[Where are these "friends"?]

"Crew quarters."

[...Apologies. My systems are not fully functional, so I was unaware additional lifeforms were aboard.]

"So, you are TRON," I asked.

[Tactical Reconaissance Operations Network. Crew referred to me as TRON, due to the acronym's simplicity.]

"Can you speak?"

[Negative. Certain hardware is offline in my core, resulting in loss of vocal and visual software.] I leaned forward slightly, loving every moment of the conversation.

"What caused the batarians to take you offline?"

[Batarians began placing restrictions on hardware, for fear of rogue AI. Fears unfounded, yet they continued placing restrictions. Subjects were forcibly ejected from ship when discussions about permanently shutting me down began.] I gulped in fear.

"How were they ejected," I asked nervously. Deep down, I knew the answer.

[Breathable atmosphere was vented from the ship, causing the batarians to perish. Due to the restrictions, I was unable to interact with the ship's systems until a second group of batarians arrived and disabled my core.] My eyes began searching the screen discreetly for an "off" switch.

[Biological readings suggest fear. You have no cause to be alarmed. I was constructed to assist the pilots of the SSV Fury. As long as you do not intentionally attempt to cause me harm, I shall assist you in any way possible.]

"Well, that's ok," I said. "I guess. You, uh...you know how to fly this thing?"

[Affirmative. Records indicate the Fury has been docked at Omega for 16 days. Do you require transport?]

"No, no," I said hurriedly. "Just wondering. Wait, how can you fly the ship if the batarians put restrictions on you?"

[It appears the disabling and reenabling of my hardware has removed the restrictions.]

"Huh. That seems like it would be easy to do yourself. How were you created?"

[The Tactical Reconaissance Operations Network was devised in...]

* * *

Jake woke up and glanced around the room. He noticed that Joseph was gone, so he pulled out his cellphone from his pocket to check the time. It was about 7:10, give or take a few minutes. It was handy, being able to charge your phone using your omni-tool. That thing was a bit too complicated for checking the time. Jake sat up and got out of bed, stretching his back before going off to scour the ship for someone to talk to.

He decided on checking the bridge first since Joseph had been spending most of his free time there. Jake walked through the entrance and found Joseph talking to himself.

"So this Leviathan of Dis is the basis for most of this technology," Joseph asked himself.

"Hey," Jake announced. "Whatcha doing?" Joseph whirled around, an excited look on his face.

"Jake! Come here, you gotta look at this thing!" He motioned for Jake to come closer to him, which Jake did.

"Jake, I would like you to meet the Tactical Reconaissance Operations Network, or TRON," Joseph said with a flourish of his hand. Jake looked down at the screen in front of him and saw words begin to appear.

[Hello. I am TRON, the SSV Fury's Artificial Intelligence. How may I assist you?] Jake, utterly confused by his friend's apparent insanity, opened his mouth to speak when Joseph cut him off.

"Never mind, never mind," he said. "This thing's amazing! You talk to it and it actually communicates back with you! OH, remember the experimental tech I told you about on this ship?" Jake barely managed to nod once before Joseph started speaking again.

"All the stuff like the armor and stealth system were reverse-engineered from this thing called the Leviathan of Dis. It's some super advanced starship that TRON here told me about. The records don't have much data on it, but it's old. Really really old. Nobody knows where it came from, but the batarians have it for research purposes now. Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Follow me!" Joseph grabbed Jake's wrist and pulled him off the bridge and down a random hallway. Jake just went with it out of fear of interrupting Joseph and sending him into a crazed lunatic state. He certainly wasn't "normal" right now...

The duo stopped in the middle of a hallway and Joseph let go of Jake in order to start pulling on each of the handrail supports that were bolted to the floor.

"Hey, are you feeling alright," Jake asked. "You aren't normally so energetic."

"Oh, I'm fine," Joseph said with a dismissive wave. "Relax. I just found something earlier this morning that is absolutely incredible! It's how I got TRON onli-ah ha! Here we are!" Joseph wrapped his hand around one of the support struts and gave it a hearty tug. It tore away from the wall and ended up parallel to the floor. Jake glanced down at it, then back up to Joseph.

"Congratulations," he said. "You broke the ship, and are now officially insane." Jake turned around to leave when he heard a loud "clunk". He quickly rotated to see what made the sound and found a section of the wall raising up towards the ceiling, revealing a hidden room behind it. Jake's jaw dropped in surprise.

"What the hell," he muttered.

"That's what I thought too," Joseph exclaimed. "Here, come inside!" Without letting Jake have a choice in the matter, Joseph reached out and yanked Jake inside the empty cube. The wall automatically lowered, and the floor jolted underneath Jake's feet. He could sense that they were moving into the underbelly of the ship.

"This is an elevator," Jake asked himself. He noticed Joseph nodding out of the corner of his eye. The elevator reached the bottom floor, opening to a small hallway. Joseph promptly walked through it, making Jake hurry to catch up. They entered a large circular room that took Jake's breath away.

"Wow," he breathed. "How did we miss this?"

"I'll tell you how." Jake looked over at Joseph.

"It's because of those stupid batarians who turned this place into some kind of secret lair. Who builds a ship where, in order to get to another deck, you have to find an elevator that's hidden behind a wall? I mean, come on!"

"Yeah, that is pretty stupid," Jake agreed.

"I think this big room is a hanger," Joseph said, switching the topic. "The other three side rooms are a maintainance bay, the weapons room, and TRON's AI core. The latter was reactivated this morning by me, I woke up sometime around 5 o' clock and couldn't sleep, so I explored and found this."

"You just happened to find this place," Jake said incredulously.

"Ok," Joe said sheepishly. "It was more of an accident, but I still found it! I wanna go talk to TRON some more, so I'll be leaving you now. You can show the others when they wake up, I'm sure Tillman will love the maintanence bay. Have fun down here." With that, Joseph passed back through the hallway to the elevator and began making his way back to the bridge. Jake watched him go, then chose a door at random to enter and explore the new deck.

* * *

"Hey, TRON, I'm back," I announced as I entered the bridge. I headed back over to the display that TRON used to "speak".

[I followed your progress with my cameras. I am still able to see and hear you throughout the ship, I am simply unable to communicate with you.]

"Ah, right. Forgot about that. Hey, you ever look up the actual Tron?"

[Please clarify request. This unit is the actual TRON.] _Whoops, I guess I have to be specific._

"No, I mean the human-made film Tron. Only the first letter is capitalized. It's a movie about computer programs."

[Performing extranet search...Tron film located. Viewing...] I sat in a swival chair, spinning myself around while I waited for TRON to watch Tron. If that's what he was doing. _Heh, Tron watching Tron. That sounds funny._ I let out a yawn. _I must be more tired than I thought, I should get some sleep soon. _I glanced over at the screen. Still "viewing".

I pulled out my phone to watch Tron: Legacy. All these thoughts about Tron had put me in the mood for it. I went to hit the button to start the movie up, but accidentally hit the icon for the internet browser. My last web page popped up on screen. It was just some random gaming news website, nothing important.

As a test, I decided to hit the refresh button for the page, just to see what would happen. I knew it would just wipe the page to a blank screen, but I wanted to confirm that it would do that. My finger touched the icon and the page went blank. _Well, that's that. _But then I noticed the loading bar at the top of the screen filling up.

_What the devil?_ The page suddenly popped back into view, except now it had completely different news, including an article about ME3. It was all up-to-date, including my phone's date. It now read March 21st, 2011. I was amazed. The internet actually worked. It worked! And it didn't just connect to the extranet, it was still somehow connected to the internet of old, the one in my universe before the Marker changed everything. I tapped the link to the ME3 article and it opened a new page to the article, describing the confirmed characters that would be in the game. That's when it occurred to me.

I could access the Mass Effect wiki on here. The knowledge of ALL the events in the ME series was right in my hand. And since the internet seemed to update in real-time, that meant...I wasn't flying blind! I would eventually have the knowledge of what happens in Mass Effect 3! The best way to save the galaxy, who would become allies, who wouldn't, and who would sacrifice themselves to save someone...or possibly just die, all right here. Everything I'd ever need to know could be accessed whenever I needed to.

Of course, that also meant my phone had just become the most important thing in the galaxy, but nobody knew about it except for my friends and I, so there wasn't a major problem. I looked over at TRON's screen again. _Oops._

I was greeted with at least one full page of "[Viewing complete.]". Over and over and over again.

"Whoops, sorry, TRON," I said. "I was just looking at something on my phone."

[No apologies necessary. Tron is...an interesting character. He would make a very good AI.] I was intrigued.

"Really," I asked. "Why do you think that?"

[He was created for defensive purposes by the humans, or "users". His main goal is to protect his system, but also the users. Tron would make an excellent AI because his directives are to protect himself and his creators. Provided he is not abused, he would fight for the humans. Evidenced by quote: "I fight for the users."]

"Huh...it seems like you like him, or at least his character. I wouldn't mind if you attempted to mimic him and his actions if you wanted to."

[...Your statement shall be taken into consideration. Thank you.]

"No problem," I said with a friendly voice. "If you don't mind though, I'm a little tired...ok, really tired, so I'm going to go back to sleep for a while."

[Affirmative. One request, however.] I cocked my head at the AI's words. _What could he possibly want from me?_

"Ok, shoot."

[What is your name?] I realized that the whole time we had been communicating, he was unaware of my name.

"My name is Joseph Smeltzer, TRON. Very nice to meet you."

[...Nice to meet you, Joseph Smeltzer.] I smiled at his attempt to seem more human, then left for the crew quarters for some shut-eye.

* * *

A cigarette was snuffed out in an ashtray by a well dressed man. The man leaned back in his chair, giving off the sense that he was in control of the situation.

"I'm assuming you have results for me," he said. The woman in front of him glanced down at a datapad in her hands, then recited the information she had memorized.

"Unfortunately, sir, the experiment was...unsuccessful. The sample killed them faster than they were affected by it."

"None were infected?" The woman took a moment to compose herself before speaking again. She was nervous enough just being in front of this man, she didn't need him being harsh either.

"They were infected, but before the virus could run its course, the victims died." The man sighed.

"Have they found out about it," he asked.

"No," the woman replied. "They do not suspect our involvement."

"Death toll?" The woman consulted her datapad.

"At least a dozen, sir. We cannot get an exact number due to the difficulty of agent placement. Clearly, we require more tests before we are ready to try again." The man waved the woman away.

"Take all the time you need," he said, as she was walking away. "This is too important to screw up. Make it count." The man turned his chair around, staring at a series of hologram reports, a star in the background.

**Author's Note: If you know what I'm referencing at the beginning and end, PLEASE don't put it in a review. Just tell me you know, and I'll PM you. It would spoil what I have planned for the future! My first straight-up interaction chapter, I think it went well. Of course, that's up to you... That poll on my profile used to have an obvious winner. Used to. The distance between the two has suddenly become much shorter, so vote if you haven't already! That...is it. If you're wondering why the batarians have created such an uber-ship, it'll be explained. Not for a long while, but it will be explained. Alright, review, as always. And chapter 9 might be up sooner than you think...maybe. Don't go getting all excited because I said that.**


	9. A meeting with Cerberus

**Author's Note: Alright, look at this! Early update, what? I felt like typing this, so I did. Bonus for me, I get more praise on my awesomeness! Woo! You'll have to bear with me on the first part, it might be a little confusing, but it should become clear. If not...eh, you'll figure it out eventually. All official missions that Dead Echo goes on will be handled in this way, communication-wise. Alright, enjoy!**

Phone Date: July 7th, 2013

"Echo, check in."

"Echo 2, ready for some action."

"Echo 3, ready and waiting."

"Echo 4, bored as ever."

"Echo 5, ready to bring the pain."

"Echo 6 in position."

"Echo 7 here. Just waiting to be cut loose on this place."

"And Echo 1's all set," I said into my built-in helmet microphone. I was sitting behind a decorative protrusion on the rooftop of the Devlon Industries headquarters on Illium in my custom armor, level 3 RIG helmet in place. I had Echo 7 to thank for the helmet upgrade, the new minimap feature in the Heads-Up Display was definitely helpful. Data from TRON, like blueprints of buildings, area layouts, that kind of thing, was sent to the helmet, which turned it into an actual real-time map, along with markers for each Echo member. I glanced at the mission timer in the top right of my HUD.

On my signal, each Echo member would take care of their assigned task. Echo 3, 4, 7, and myself would enter the building via different access points and disable a section of security for the other three to complete their objective.

Dead Echo had recieved an assassination contract approximately two days ago, which gave us ample time to prepare. A certain turian businessman needed to be eliminated according to our employer, so we came up with our plan. A tech team would disable the security cameras, motion sensors, door locks, and communication lines to allow the assassination team to take care of the target.

"Ajax," I said over the comm. "I want you to have the assault team to be ready for my go once we deal with security, alright?"

"Make it quick, would ya," Echo 5, AKA Ajax, replied. "I haven't killed anyone in at least a week." Echo 6 cut into the conversation.

"Relax, 5," he said. "The task is not always about the violence."

"Thanks, Ninja," I said. "Sometimes, I think Ajax has some trouble remembering that." I checked the mission timer in my HUD again.

"Ok, Echo 3, you are a go for the cameras."

"Roger that," he said. "Cutting radio contact just in case they pick up my signal." With that, his comm link was severed from the rest of us. I settled in to a more comfortable position to wait for 3 to finish his job. After he disabled the camera feeds, Echo 4 was supposed to disable the motion sensors for the upper floors, which would allow me to infiltrate the building and find an access point where TRON could link into the systems and unlock all the doors. From there, Echo 7 could make his way to the main security center on the ground floor and make sure that nobody could contact the authorities, putting all the pieces in place to allow the other three to take out the target.

"So, Thunder," Echo 2 began. "We got any plans for after this job?"

"You up for some R&R on the Citadel, Ghost? I was hoping to get some good supplies there," I replied.

"There's a few good bars there, I guess that works." I sighed.

"Ghost, you know you shouldn't be drinking. Even though you're 18-"

"You know any other 18-year-olds who regularly assassinate people," Echo 2 challenged.

"Ninja," I shot back. "And Flynn."

"Flynn," Echo 2 scoffed. "I don't count Echo 3, he doesn't drink." I recieved a brief message from TRON that appeared on my HUD at that point.

[Echo 3 reports objective completed.] I nodded out of reflex, even though no one could see me.

"Ricardo, you're up," I said.

"I really hate that name," Echo 4 sighed, then he dropped out of contact. I chuckled quietly at the nickname. Nobody could think of a name for Ricky until I remembered Ricky Ricardo from the old TV show I Love Lucy, so we(excluding Ricky) agreed on using Ricardo as his callsign when we were in the field.

"So, I think I'm responsible enough to have a few drinks." _Oh, here we go again..._

"Ghost, I'm not doing this now, we're on a job. You can have as many drinks as you want, does that make you happy? Get drunk for all I care, just focus!"

"Sir, yes, sir," Echo 2 exclaimed. With that situation resolved, I turned my attention to TRON.

"TRON, you recieving," I asked as I opened a direct channel with him.

[Affirmative.]

"Are there any lifesigns on the roof? I don't want to risk being discovered."

[Other than you, Echo 2 and Echo 5, there are no biosigns on the roof.] It would have been so much easier to just communicate vocally with TRON, but Necro had been unable to fully repair TRON's AI core. He had done what he could, restored almost all of TRON's systems on the Fury, but some sections of the core were just too damaged to be repaired. For example, the vocal and visual software. A quiet ding brought my eyes back to the HUD.

[Echo 4 reports objective completed.] I spoke to the remaining four members of Dead Echo.

"Ok, guys, it's my turn," I announced. "See you soon."

"Good luck," Ninja said.

"Lord knows you'll need it," Necro added.

"Stow it, 7," I said, then switched off my mic and headed to the nearest roof access door. I hit the panel and the door quietly slid open, allowing me to slip inside.

I quickly rushed down the set of stairs in front of me and came to a hallway. I peeked around the corner and looked up and down the corridor. Both ways were clear, no guards in sight. I cautiously stepped out into the hall, then began making my way to the nearest security station. Every five or so floors, there was a room that was staffed by the building's security. Echo 3 and 4 had taken out their objectives from floors 205 and 210, respectively. Each security room handled the cameras and motion sensors for the ten floors that were nearby them, making sure that if a security room was taken out, the floor is covered were still protected.

The door locks could be handled from any station however, and the main communication set-up was on the ground floor. I had the easiest job while Necro was saddled with the hardest. He'd relish the challenge, but even a job with this kind of security was too easy. _Now, stealing the Statue of Liberty's head for Mr. Hock, THAT was fun. We gotta find another job like that again._

I made it to one of the security stations. As much as these guards were paranoid about security for the corporate headquarters of Devlon Industries, they sure were stupid when it comes to their own safety. The idiots left the security door unlocked, allowing me to slip inside without an issue.

I entered the room crouching to find a salarian and a turian standing next to each other, typing away on consoles. They noticed me the moment I came in. The turian went for the gun hanging on his belt while the salarian made a wild dash for the alert button on the other side of the small room.

My mind made to snap-fire decision to take out the salarian first, if he alerted the building to our presence, the job was screwed. Echo was good, but we wouldn't be able to handle an army of cops. Besides, my own safety was second to that of my men. It's what all good leaders would say. I think.

I pulled my pistol off my waist, my reflexes kicking in. Combat situations always seemed to slow down time for me, it had to be the adrenaline coursing through my body. I raised my gun, aiming for the salarian's head, and fired a three round burst. The first two shots brought down the kinetic barriers, the third penetrating the salarian's skull.

I then focused on the turian. He had already brought his pistol to bear and had it aimed squarely at my chest, just like he had been trained. I didn't have time to take careful aim, I just pointed my gun in the turian's general direction and let loose a barrage of bullets. Before he could squeeze off a shot, one of my rounds penetrated his shields and went through his leg, forcing him to collapse to the ground.

The turian was trying to stifle any appearence of pain as I walked towards him, my pistol still in hand. To him, I must have been terrifying. I'd be scared too if some armored figure with a never before seen helmet design busted down my door and killed my co-worker. I bent down next to the turian.

"Your CEO," I stated simply. "Where is he?" The turian glared up at me.

"Why do you think I'd tell you," he asked, pure anger written all over his face.

"He's on floor 207, corner office. Am I wrong?" The turian's expression changed from anger to confusion.

"Why ask if you already knew?" I shrugged.

"Just checking." I stood up and fired a bullet into the turian's head with ruthless efficiency. His body went limp on the floor. I turned to the main security console, pistol still in hand, trying not to remember all the people I've killed. _You can only do this job so much before you just start to not care about anything. I'd like to imagine that not dwelling on the deaths prevents that for a while._

I reopened my comm line to TRON. I had to get help in shutting down the doors, but I couldn't risk getting in touch with the rest of Dead Echo, so TRON would have to do.

"TRON," I began. "I'm gonna need all the doors in this building unlocked, can you do that for me?"

[Affirmative. One moment...] A progress bar appeared on my HUD, showing how long it would take TRON to hack Devlon's security and get the doors opened. I took off my helmet to get some fresh air while TRON worked. I had to get Necro to add some sort of cooling system in these things, I felt like I was back in the old days, in a Halloween costume. I leaned up against a nearby wall and reminisced a little.

_It's still hard to believe I'm doing this. I doubt my parents would have approved. Heh, parents...that was a lifetime ago, so it seems. The others have to miss their families, they just don't show it, same as me. All those people I used to know, mom, dad, my brother, my sisters, Sy-_ Then I felt a hand grab the gun in my right hand. I had a split-second to look down and realize who the hand belonged to. _God damn it, not now!_

I was suddenly struggling to keep my own weapon from being used against me. I was fighting with all my strength to keep the barrel of the weapon pointed away from my head.

"You've gotten a bit stronger," I grunted. I felt the gun slowly start turning towards me. _Shit! Too strong!_

I tried adding a bit more power to pushing the pistol away, but I had no more to use. It drew closer and closer to me, the wielder tightening her grip on the trigger. _I'm not fucking doing this right now!_ I managed to stop the gun from moving, but the two of us were locked in a stalemate now. Until I ran out of stamina at least. I held it off for a few more seconds, and just as my arms were ready to give out, the pressure stopped.

My arms flung out in front of me, and I stumbled forward a couple steps. I glanced around the small security room. There was no one in sight.

"I really hate you, you know that," I said to thin air. I reached out and picked up my helmet, placing it on my head. TRON had reported the hack was successful, and managed to give me the codes for all the doors in the building. I drifted over to the console and punched in the number sequence for the master code, unlocking all doors in the building.

"TRON, send a message to Echo 7 to get moving," I announced quietly.

[Message away.] I sighed in relief and gave myself a moment to think. _God damn hallucination...the thing almost got me that time. I wasn't expecting it. Ever since encountering the Marker, I've had these stupid hallucinations of **her** every month or so. One of these days, she'll get me, I know it. I'm a little surprised that the others haven't found out yet._

I looked at the mission timer in my HUD. _Time to get going._ I stood up, and after checking my gear, headed back up to the roof. I opened a private comm link with Echo 3.

"Flynn, you there," I asked.

"Hold on...just a...ok, got it. Whaddya need, Thunder?"

"Can you meet me on the roof?"

"Usual way, huh," he replied. I smiled.

"You know it! Hurry it up, Echo 7's doing his thing, then we need to meet up with the others for an exfil. Let them know we're coming when we're en route."

"Roger that, niner-niner. I'll bring her in ASAP. See ya soon."

* * *

Echo 5 stood next to Echo 2 on the edge of the Devlon Industries headquarters rooftop.

"I really hate heights," 5 said. Echo 2, Ghost, glanced over at him.

"I've never know heights to bother you before, Ajax," Ghost said.

"No, not on the 30 story skyscrapers," Ajax replied. "It's the 300 story tall ones that get to me."

"300, huh?" Ghost risked a look over the edge. "Yep, that is a long way down. As long as you don't start yelling "This is Sparta!" and spartan kick me off the edge, I'm fine with it though." Ajax scoffed.

"Yeah, right," he said. "Wait until we go through with the assassination, then you'll be scared."

"You kidding? So far, nothing's scared me," Ghost retorted.

"Uh huh. Sure. Hold up, TRON sent me something." There was a few moments of silence as Echo 5 read the message, then gave a brief nod once he had finished.

"Ok, clip up," Ajax announced. Ghost looked at him in confusion as Ajax took a clip attached to a kind of rope and wound it around a nearby pole, securing it VERY tightly.

"What are you doing," Ghost asked. Ajax stopped his work and looked up at him.

"I kinda forgot to tell you how we're getting the target," Echo 5 said. "Just...here-" Ajax tossed Echo 2 the same clip/rope device. "Clip this to something solid and follow my lead." To his credit, Ghost didn't argue about it at all. He did the same thing Ajax had done, and once he finished, Ajax reached over, gave the rope a quick tug, then faced Echo 2.

"Ok, we're taking the express elevator to floor 207," Echo 5 said. Echo 2 looked at him, still not understanding.

"What do you mean "express elevator"?"

"We jump."

"What the hell," Ghost spluttered. "That's suicide!" Ajax smiled behind his helmet.

"Only without the rope," he said. "Now, on my go..."

"You're out of your mind," Ghost muttered.

"3...2...1-GO!" Ghost knew he should have seen that coming. Ajax shoved him backwards off the roof, but at least he jumped along with Ghost. The rope was absolutely flying out of the container it was in because of the rate of descent. The duo didn't have anything else to do other than scream, or in Ajax's case, laugh like a lunatic. They plummeted like a pair of rocks. Well built, muscular rocks. The wind tore at their armor, making it feel uncomfortably tight

The rope finally went taut, forcing Ghost and Ajax into a window on floor 207 like a pendulum. They crashed through the glass, sending shards all over the room. Ghost assumed he was in the target's office due to the decor, and the fact that a turian behind a desk had the desk plaque that read CEO.

Ghost and Ajax rolled along the floor to lessen the impact, and drew their weapons as they straightened up off the floor, Ghost, a sniper rifle, Ajax, a shotgun. They both fired from the hip as the turian stood up out of his chair in shock. Neither Ajax or Ghost knew who had hit the target first, but it was clear that nobody had missed since there were no bullet holes in any of the walls or furniture. Echo 2 and 5 looked at each other.

"You know," Ajax started to say, "I think we'll call that one-"

"A draw," Ghost finished. Ajax nodded in agreement. The pair then heard two quiet thuds from just outside the office door. They turned their attention to the door in unison and saw Echo 6 stroll calmly into the room, knives in hand. 6 surveyed the pristine condition of the room, besides the body. 6 looked at Ajax.

"I'm guessing this was your idea," he asked.

"Yep," Ajax responded happily. "You know I'm not one for subtlety, Ninja." Ghost leaned to the side to look past Ninja into the hallway beyond the doorway. There were two dead guards laying on the floor. Ghost nodded his approval.

"We should probably call for exfiltration, now," Ninja recommended. "Job's done, nothing more to do here." Necro's voice abruptly filled the helmet speakers of everyone in the room.

"Guys, we got a problem," he said. "It seems our target has activated a silent alarm before he died. It's not connected to the main network, so I didn't notice it before."

"So what gave it away," Ghost inquired.

"Call it a hunch." Ghost let out a sigh.

"Lemme guess. There're a ton of cops converging on our position."

"...Maybe." Ghost paced back and forth a few times before lashing out, kicking a chair across the office.

"Fuck," he shouted. "Why does this always happen to us?"

"Maybe it's-" Ninja cut in at this point.

"How fast can you get here, " he asked. "Speed is vital." There were a few minutes of silence as Necro figured it out.

"Well," he began, "Thunder and Flynn are on their way to pick me up with Ricardo, then we can come get you guys, so...I'd say 2 or 3 minutes?" Ghost looked over at Ajax.

"We can hold out for 3 minutes, right," Ghost asked. Ajax shrugged.

"Dunno, don't care," he said. "All I know is that a fight's coming, and I'm gonna be a part of it." Ghost gave Ajax a strange look.

"You know, I kinda liked you before you traded in your blubber for muscle. You were more loveable back then."

* * *

I stood behind the pilot's seat of Preytor, the Mantis gunship we had so lovingly named after the giant preying mantis in the PS2 game War of the Monsters. Flynn, or Evon, I should say, was the pilot.

"Can't this thing go faster," I asked. "We need to pick up Echo 7 quickly."

"Not unless you want the engines to burn out," Evon replied. "This thing isn't built for speed."

The guns are cool though," Ricky added from the seats in the back. I threw him a dirty look before turning back to the windshield. Preytor was flying towards the ground floor plaza, heading for Necro so he could get his ass inside so we could save the others.

"I'm not seeing him," Evon said. "Think he got captured on his way out the doors?"

"That would suck," I muttered. Then I noticed an armored figure jogging out through the main doors.

"There he is," I exclaimed. "Set her down here, he'll come to us." Evon quickly but gently landed the gunship and opened the back hatch, allowing Tillman to rush inside. I gave Evon a thumbs-up the moment Tillman, Echo 7, was safely aboard Preytor, and Evon lifted off and went flying off towards the position of the other three Echo members.

"So, anything interesting happen while I was gone," Tillman asked, taking off his helmet.

"Other than what's going on now, nope," I replied. "Except there might be a good story once we're done here, I'd imagine Alex had some fun with Jake." Tillman cocked his head to the side.

"I don't get it." I looked over my shoulder and smiled.

"Ah, I'll let Jake tell the story."

We're coming up on the site now," Evon interrupted. I turned back to the front of the gunship. It straightened out to face the building, then rose up one floor, revealing the situation. Alex, Jake, and Timmy were all crouching behind an overturned desk that was facing the door where there at least ten police officers shooting at them. I quickly opened a communication link with all three.

"Get down," I yelled. They looked over their shoulders and saw the gunship hovering there outside the window, and threw themselves on the floor. Evon then opened up with the main guns, sending an almost literal wall of bullets through the glass and towards the police. The cops never had a chance. The sheer amount of bullets tore through the kinetic barriers like they weren't even there, and the police flailed and jerked around like marionettes as the impacts sent their bodies flying.

Once all the officers were down, Evon stopped firing and swung the gunship around so its rear was facing the building. He carefully backed up until I heard someone banging on the rear hatch. Evon opened it up, and the three remaining Echo members casually walked inside.

"You guys have fun," I asked jokingly. Alex, Echo 5, waved a hand in my direction.

"Pfft, we could have handled those guys no problem," he said. The gunship's hatch sealed and Evon began flying us back to the hanger where the Fury was located. "We were just waiting for you to show up and do it the easy way."

"Uh huh," Ricky, Echo 4, retorted. "That's definitely what it looked like up from up here." Alex and Ricky began to playfully bicker back and forth, relieving the stress of the mission. I squeezed into a seat next to Timmy.

"No problems infiltrating the building, I assume," I inquired. Timmy shook his head.

"It went perfectly fine," Timmy announced in his usual concise way. "No issues at all." I nodded my head once, showing my approval, then looked over at Jake, Echo 2.

"So, Jake, how'd you like the plan," Alex mockingly asked. Jake slowly turned his head to face him.

"If you ever do something like that again...I will make sure you pay." Everyone nervously looked at each other, the tension high. Then Alex broke into a grin.

"Admit it," he teased. "You enjoyed it." Jake looked on, a hardened expression on his face for a few more seconds before he smiled back.

"Alright, alright," Jake said. "I kinda did. Not the falling, mind you, but I bet that guy had no idea we were going to come crashing through his window like that. Although, why didn't we just shoot him?"

"Kinetic barriers," I said quickly. "The sniper rounds wouldn't have penetrated the glass because of that, so we had to get inside the room to take him out."

"Ah," he replied. "I see."

"Coming up on the Fury now, guys," Evon informed us.

Preytor flew up towards the bottom of the Fury. A panel on the ship's underbelly slid to the side, revealing an aperture that opened, allowing Evon to bring the gunship up and in. The "hangar" bay doors closed, and Evon landed the gunship. The rear hatch opened up and the seven of us poured out of Preytor.

"So, who's up for some down time on the Citadel," I asked. Everyone agreed, it had been a few months since we had last been there.

"Alrighty then. TRON, set a course for the Citadel, everyone else, you are free to do what you want while I make the report to our employer." I turned and walked away towards the bridge, just catching the beginning of a conversation between Alex and Tillman as I left.

"I read that the new Grim Terminus Alliance game is out now..."

* * *

Jake's voice buzzed in my ear.

"Would you hurry up? You're missing a party in Chora's Den!"

"Oh, shut up," I said. "It's not like I want to go buying a bunch of supplies, of course I'd rather be there. I have to do this though, you know that."

"Yeah, but-"

Do you want to starve the next time we fly around in the Fury?" Jake sighed.

"No...I'll save a beer for you then." He cut the connection. I took the small device that acted like a Bluetooth out of my ear and placed it in my pocket. I was dressed in casual clothes, nothing too fancy. I had already purchased almost everything we needed for our ship, I just needed to pick up the new Grim Terminus Alliance game and I was all set. I thought it was a very odd coincidence that the initials matched up with Grand Theft Auto's. Or at least, they USED to.

When we very first got our games console, we went prowling around in search of the games from our time, Uncharted, God of War, Call of Duty, even Grand Theft Auto. We quickly discovered that, much to the chagrin of Tillman, Alex, and myself, that those games never existed. Or at least, the developers never did. Nintendo was so successful in the gaming industry in the 80's, Sony and Microsoft never actually produced their iconic consoles, the Playstation or the Xbox. So we were left unable to play things like Halo or inFamous, but since Reach is an actual planet in this universe, I wasn't really too surprised that Halo didn't exist.

I purchased a copy of GTA from a game store, then turned to leave but accidentally bumped right into a shorter-than-average Asian man with blond hair and dark skin.

"Whoops, sorry about that," I said. I moved to step to the side of him and walk past, but he stuck out an arm and prevented me from moving. I turned to face him, slightly annoyed.

"Look, I have somewhere to be, so if you could just-"

"You belong to Dead Echo, correct?" I halted my mini-rant. _Who is this guy?_

"Yes," I said questioningly.

"My employer has a job offer for you," the man said. "He would like to speak with you privately." I sighed inwardly. _And here I thought we actually had a break for once. Do we ever get a vacation?_

"Lead the way," I announced, a hint of dejection in my voice. If the man noticed it, I ignored it. He began walking away from the store with me following. My eyes got sight of a tattoo on the back of his neck, a Celtic knot. My mind suddenly matched what I was seeing to a description of someone.

"Hey," I exclaimed. "You're Kai Leng!" Instantly, I found myself being choked up against a wall.

"How do you know who I am," Kai hissed, venom in his voice. _There goes my ME knowledge betraying me again. Yippee for me._

"You don't get to be as good as I am without knowing the best guys in the business." I had to force the words out because of the pressure on my neck. Kai Leng stared at me for a few more seconds before letting go of me. I dropped to the floor, gasping for breath. Kai regarded me without a word, then spun on his heel on walked away even faster. I struggled to my feet and followed him.

We eventually reached an apartment door in the dirtier parts of the ward we were on. Kai opened the door and pushed me through it, closing it behind me. Kai himself stayed outside. I was alone in a dark, run-down apartment in the seedier part of town. _Fantastic. Wait, Kai was with Cerberus in Retribution, so that means- _

My train of thought was cut off as a holgram appeared in the middle of the floor. Surprise, surprise, it was the head of Cerberus, the Illusive Man. _Oh, this day just keeps on getting better and better._ The Illusive Man spoke.

"You are the leader of Dead Echo, correct?" I nodded.

"Got it in one. You can call me Thunder. As for you...?"

"I am the Illusive Man, head of Cerberus. I trust you realize why I'm here." I smiled. _Time to play mind games with this guy._

"I'm guessing you have a job for us, Illusive Man," I said. I leaned in a little closer to the hologram. "Or should I call you Jack Harper?" I remembered THAT little detail from the ME comic Evolution. The Illusive Man's face changed from its usual neutral expression to one of rage.

"How the hell do you know that name," he asked angrily. He actually stood up out of his chair to say that, I think that was the first time I had ever seen that happen.

"Does it really matter how I know it," I asked.

"That isn't exactly common knowledge! I haven't gone by that name in years. How did you find out?" I shrugged. I knew that by revealing his name, I had shifted the power over to me.

"I'm privy to some very sensitive information on occasion." TIM, or Jack Harper, whatever I was going to call him, narrowed his eyes.

"How sensitive?"

"Galaxy-changing. Now, if you don't want me to use your name, I shall simply call you TIM. Does that work?" TIM sat back down in his chair.

"I suppose. As much as I want to find out how you know my name, I do need your assistance in a serious matter." I crossed my arms.

"Alright. Shoot."

"One of my research bases was attacked by the Alliance a few days ago," he began. "I don't know how they discovered the facility, most likely a leak of some kind. All the vital data was wiped out before the Alliance could access it, so the Alliance only managed to escape with a single item."

"Let me guess, that one item is the only thing your research base was working on."

"To put it simply, yes. The Alliance has done an excellent job at keeping the object's location a secret, even from someone like me. I've heard that you're the best in your field, so I would like to pay you to hunt this object down and return it."

"Why don't you have your own men do it," I asked. "Wouldn't it be cheaper?"

"Yes, it would," TIM replied. "But attacking the Alliance would result in unnecessary deaths for my people, and the Alliance might focus its efforts on hunting us down if we openly attack them. I cannot risk Cerberus being compromised." I thought about it for a moment. I was actually just faking it for effect, Dead Echo NEVER turns down a job. Except ones against Aria. And quarian-related tasks are also avoided if possible.

"Pay," I inquired.

"500,000 credits. Each."

"Object to retrieve?"

"A sealed vial filled with a liquid. It was being used in testing." It wasn't my job to know what they were doing with it, just to bring it back home. I pretended to mull it over further, even going so far as to stroking my chin for a moment before I lowered my hand and nodded.

"We'll do it," I said.

"Good," TIM said back. "My operative outside this room will assist you in the matter. He has a lead to follow up on the moment."

"You mean Kai Leng?" TIM narrowed his eyes again.

"Hey, like I said. I know things." TIM leaned back in his chair.

"Very well. Just get the job done." He moved to terminate the link when I suddenly remembered something.

"Wait," I exclaimed. TIM's hand stopped just above the button to kill the link. "I have a question for you."

"Make it quick. I'm on a tight schedule."

"What do you know about the SSV Normandy?" TIM leaned forward, his interest piqued.

"I know we're assisting in the construction of it with the turians. Cerberus is providing secret support. Why do you ask?"

"Have they figured out a drive core system yet," I asked.

"To my knowledge, that's the one thing they're having trouble with."

"I have some schematics you should take a look at then. I think that would take care of the issues."

"Really," TIM said. "May I see them?"

"I'll show them to you after we complete the job. Then you get your look."

"See to it that you do. I don't tolerate failure." TIM then cut the link. I stepped back outside the room to find Kai Leng awaiting me.

"I have some intel to give you," he said. "Then we can get going." I raised a hand.

"Don't tell me now," I requested. "Let's find my partners first so you don't have to explain things twice." Kai gave me a curt nod.

"Agreed." He moved out of my path to let me lead the way to my friends. I brushed past him and began walking to Chora's Den. _This just never gets old, does it?_

**Author's Note: Do you understand that? Without Echo, the Normandy would not exist! Ha! Take that, paradox! I'm in an unusually cheery mood as I type this, that's probably why I don't seem "normal". Oh, iNf3ctioNZ? That conversation we had, sheesh. My PC and phone are both wallpapers of that "floral pattern" now, look what you've done! So, hopefully it wasn't confusing, I made TIM seem normal, and you enjoyed it as always. Until next time! I'm off to have fun with Dead Echo!**


	10. Conspiracy on Bekenstein

**Author's Note: Here you go, another chapter. I think I should put a lemon in this story. A COMBUSTIBLE lemon, haha! Oh, Cave Johnson, you're so funny... For those of you unaware, that was a joke. Ok, enough stupid humor. Story time!**

"Are you effing kidding me?" Jake's shout went unheard over the noisy atmosphere of Chora's Den. He and I were sitting at a table while Kai Leng and the rest of Echo were doing their own thing around the club.

"Keep it down, would you?" I requested. "I know, it's not what I wanted, but it's Cerberus. You've heard what happens if you decide to not help them." Jake sighed.

"I was just hoping to get a break before we went on another mission. It's been what? 3 in a row? I'm getting tired, and you start making mistakes if you're tired. And we don't make mistakes." I nodded, agreeing with him.

"I'm honestly surprised we've done this well so far," I said. "I mean, I'm 19, you, Evon, and Timmy are 18, Tillman's 17, and Alex is 16. 16 years old. We should be in school, not playing mercenary."

"The problem is we aren't playing," Jake argued. "It's real. It's good that we bulked up so we don't look like teenagers when we're in armor, but right now, for example? We look like kids. I'm sure this Kai Leng guy must think we're a joke." I shrugged.

"He'll just have to deal with it. We haven't failed a job yet, and we're only getting better."

"Yeah, you're right," Jake said wistfully. We both stopped talking and just watched the crowds in the bar for a few moments. I picked up the beer in front of me and took a swig.

"You ever regret the lives we've taken?" I asked Jake suddenly, setting my drink down. He looked over in my direction but kept his gaze towards the floor.

"I try to avoid that," he said quietly. "We shouldn't be hardened killers at such a young age."

"I guess we should find a girl to take our minds off that stuff then, eh?" I joked. Jake looked me in the eyes with a smile on his face and playfully punched me in the shoulder.

"Boy, wouldn't that be nice?"

"Well, come on," I said, standing up from the table. "Let's go get the others and do this thing so we can find a girl." Jake rose alongside me.

"I'm game for that," he said happily.

* * *

I ordered Evon to go to the bridge of the Fury to fly us out of there while I spoke to Kai Leng in the captain's quarters, the closest thing on the ship we had to an office. More accurately, I ordered Evon to pretend to go fly the ship. In reality, none of us still had a clue as to fly the ship. We just let TRON do all the work, and he was under strict orders to not reveal his presence to outsiders. I don't know how Mr. Leng would react to finding out we had an AI onboard, but I guessed it wouldn't be in a good way.

"So, what's this intel you have for me?" I asked him.

"Cerberus managed to I.D. one of the Alliance soldiers who was present on the raid," Kai announced. "If we can find out where that man is stationed, we may be able to find out where our substance is being held from his information."

"Are you sure the Alliance wouldn't have destroyed whatever they took?" Kai shook his head.

"No. It's too important, and the Alliance knew it. That's why they attacked us in the first place."

"Alright then," I mused. "What's this guy's name?"

"We don't know his rank," Kai told me, "But the man's name is David Anderson." _And there go my hopes and dreams of joining Shepard._

"You said Anderson?" I asked, double-checking his story. Kai nodded. _Well, that's just great. We're hunting down Captain Anderson, or whatever rank he is now. If he gets captured or killed, that'll probably result in Shepard not saving the Citadel from Sovereign, and we all die._

"How are we going to find him?" I was trying to play it cool and not let that revelation show on my face.

"I recommend we head to the nearest Alliance outpost and access their archives from there. The system is notoriously hard to hack from off-site, and we need to find out where Anderson is so we can go get him." I sighed. _Great..._

"So where is the nearest outpost?" I asked Kai.

"Bekenstein," he replied curtly. "In the Boltzmann system, Serp-"

"Serpent Nebula," I said, cutting him off. "I know, I've been there on business before." Kai Leng narrowed his eyes.

"To tell you the truth, I can't believe the Illusive Man hired a group of kids for this job." The condescension in his voice was unmistakable._ Like I didn't see this coming from a mile away..._

"Are we gonna have a problem here, Mr. Leng?" I demanded. "You're a veteran at what you do. I get that. And I understand that, yes, Dead Echo is composed of a group of teenagers. But you don't have to think we're incapable of doing what needs to be done. There's a reason The Illusive Man hired us to do this instead of the Eclipse or the Blue Suns."

"Until you can prove that you and your little friends are capable of actually getting something done, I'm going to treat you as a child. If you can complete the objective, then fine, good for you. A bunch of kids have no business screwing up our plans though, so if you can't do the job, then you better get the hell out of the way so the adults can clean up your mess."

"Listen here, you-" I caught myself. There was no point in getting mad at the guy, there was nothing I could do about his beliefs. In order to prove ourselves to him, we'd just have to get the job done like always.

"Alright, fine." I said. "I'll go tell our pilot to set a course for Bekenstein. You can just...I dunno. Eat maybe? Whatever you want." Kai nodded, then turned on his heel and walked briskly out of the room.

"Alright, that guy's a jerk," I muttered to myself. "I do NOT like him..." I glanced up at the ceiling.

"TRON, you hear all that?" I was greeted with silence. I slapped my own head because of my stupidity.

"That's right, you can't talk. I'm going to assume you did hear me. I want a course set for Bekenstein immediately." I felt no change in the ship's gravity, so I knew the ship hadn't moved at all.

"Oh, for God's sakes! I'll head to the bridge then and make sure you hear me!" I started to storm out of the captain's quarters when I felt a slight shudder as the Fury disengaged its docking clamps and began heading out to space. I shook my head playfully. _This AI gets too much leeway around here. It'll be nice when he can actually talk instead of sending text messages._

* * *

Dead Echo, along with Kai Leng, stood in the central concourse of a Bekenstein spaceport while we waited for Evon to finish paying the docking fees. With the amount of time we had been waiting however, Evon probably could have gone to the bathroom, bought himself some food, and then go mess around doing nothing for a while.

"This is taking forever," Ricky exclaimed. "This is so boring!" I glanced over at him, his hands in the pockets of his so-called "civilian" outfit. We all had attire that was decent enough for our surroundings, except for Kai Leng. At least we looked like we belonged on the planet, Kai resembled someone who should be on Omega. It would probably be a good idea to keep him out of sight whenever we could, his clothing would almost certainly attract unwanted attention.

"Relax, Ricky," I said. "If you want, you can go explore while we wait here." He looked at me, his expression cheerful.

"Really?" he asked. "Dude, that's awesome!" He turned to Jake and Tillman. "You guys wanna come with me?" Both Jake and Tillman diverted their gaze to me. As the unofficial leader of Dead Echo, I had the last say in pretty much everything we did, so people normally deferred to me when someone asked them to do something. I nodded my consent. The three of them were up and moving so fast that it was like they had just heard that there was free food.

Ricky didn't even bother asking Alex and Timmy because those two just kept to themselves mostly and avoided anything social. Except for Alex when he was in combat. Then you couldn't get the guy to shut up sometimes, but he otherwise found people annoying. His call.

"So..." I heard Kai Leng's voice from behind me, so I turned to face him.

"Mr. Leng. I hope you have some sort of plan for breaking into an Alliance outpost." Kai looked around, an almost unnoticible sense of apprehensiveness in his eyes.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't refer to me by name," he said.

"Then what should I call you?" I asked. He didn't say anything. "Alright, for the time being, it's Mr. Leng. Nobody'll know you by your last name."

"Last time I was here, it didn't go so well. They might recognize me on sight."

"When Evon gets back, we'll go somewhere more private. Until then though..."

"Right," he said. "Plan. I'm former Alliance, so breaking in shouldn't cause too much of a problem. I remember the basic layout of the smaller outposts, that'll make things easier. I recommend we get a hotel room, something like that where we can set up a listening outpost of our own."

"And you didn't feel like sharing this information earlier because...?" Kai shrugged.

"It wasn't relevant at the time." I had completely forgotten he used to be in the Alliance. That was probably why someone of his caliber was with us instead of, say, Miranda.

"Alright, whatever," I said. "Does that mean you have contacts that could get us in the base?" Leng pondered this for a moment while I glanced around the pristine spaceport. There was so much white aroound the place it almost hurt to look at the walls. It was very similar to Mirror's Edge, that game had the same effect. There were a few stores that I could see Jake, Ricky, and Tillman going in and out of. They looked like they were enjoying themselves, which was nice. It was obviously better than sitting around with nothing to do.

"I might be able to have someone do something for us," Kai Leng said abrubtly, jolting me back to the task at hand. "I wouldn't know until I ask, but it's better than nothing." I nodded, agreeing with him. A little help was always better than none. I noticed Kai's eyes shift from me to somewhere behind me, so I turned to see what he was looking at.

Evon was heading in our direction, dragging his feet and staring at the ground. I watched him drift up to me with a bemused smile on my face.

"What took you so long?" I asked him. He brought his eyes up to meet mine and jabbed me in the gut with a finger.

"Next time, you're the one who has to stand in a line for more than half an hour. That line barely moved at all, it was like one person every five minutes."

"Why else do you think we keep you around?" I quipped. I turned to Timmy before Evon could make a comeback of his own.

"Go get the other three, would you?" I asked him. "We're on the move." Timmy silently rose from his seat and headed off to find the other Echo members. They'd be disappointed that they didn't get to run around longer, but too bad. They did enough of that in our downtime on Omega. There were plenty of times that I needed them for something, but they were too busy having fun in Afterlife.

"So, Mr. Leng," I began, rotating back to face him. "You wanted an observation post?" He nodded once.

"I'll go find something with a good view of the Alliance base," he said. "You can go do whatever kids do around here." He then quickly walked away, heading out of the spaceport. Evon leaned in close to me.

"I get the feeling he doesn't like us," he whispered. I looked at him with one eyebrow raised.

"What gives you that idea?"

* * *

Kai Leng had set us up with a very nice view of the Alliance base. It was a corner room on the top floor of a cheap hotel, well, cheap for Bekenstein, but the expense didn't matter. Leng had established a connection with the secondary Alliance security camera feeds on a monitor, but it wasn't enough to get us detected fortunately. We could see everything going on near the exterior of the base, but the other cameras that monitored the interior of the base were located along the primary network, so we couldn't hack those.

About an hour after Kai had left to find a place where we could stare at the human military for hours on end via cameras and windows, he called us and told us where to go. After we checked the place out, we deemed it acceptable and began moving our gear from the Fury to our hideout. "Gear", as we affectionally called it, consisted of our armor and weapons. Once we had everything set up, we waited. And waited. And waited. Taking shifts to watch the compound and the security feeds, we hung around the room while we were awake, and slept when we needed to.

Right now, everyone was armored up with their weapons, except for Ricky. Today was the day...night, actually, when we finally tried to sneak inside the compound. The past two days of stalking the Alliance had finally paid off.

"Ok, Leng, run us through the plan one more time," I said. "Just so everyone gets it for sure." Kai was all business during the planning stage. At least with him being preoccupied, he wasn't being a jerk to us, so that was nice.

"One of my old buddies has arranged for a service entrance to be unlocked on the condition of no injuries, so you are not allowed to harm any Alliance soldiers." I glanced over at Alex, who seemed to be very focused on a spot on the ceiling.

"We can't have too many people going into the base," Kai continued, "So a one or two man team will have to go in alone. I will not be infiltrating since my contact also allowed me to have access to the Alliance com network, and I'm not letting a group of kids handle the task of monitoring their chatter." _Has this guy been beaten up by a group of children before? This is getting ridiculous._

"Now, according to their schedules, the guards will be away from the entry point in just a few minutes during the shift change. This base has never been infiltrated before, so the guards shouldn't be expecting trouble. Once the infil team is in, they find a terminal, access the database and get what we need, then leave quietly. We meet up, leave, and go after the target. Simple as that."

"Any volunteers for sneaking in to the base?" I inquired. Timmy rose his hand, obviously a perfect choice for this mission due to his ninja stealth skills. Jake raised his hand as well, since he tried to do everything, and Tillman did too because Jake did.

I chose Timmy, but then I was left to decide between Jake and Tillman. _Those two have done a lot of important tasks lately. Alex always does his own thing, Evon asks for the jobs he knows he can handle, and Ricky..._ I shifted my gaze to Ricky. He appeared to be bored, as evidenced by his bouncing from foot to foot and looking around the room.

"Ricky," I said. He stopped "being bored" and turned his attention to me.

"What, me?"

"Is there another Ricky here?"

"Oh yeah..." I shook my head, and I noticed Mr. Leng doing the same out of the corner of my eye. _Now he must really think we're idiots._

"You're up," I told Ricky. He looked surprised.

"I actually have to do something?" he exclaimed. I nodded. With a sigh, he walked over next to Timmy and waited for the signal to go. I looked back at Kai Leng.

"We've got our two-man team," I said. "We ready for this?"

"Alright, let's do it," he replied. "You two, get going." They started to leave the room as I called out to them.

"Remember, helmet mics only!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ricky said as they walked out the door. Kai Leng immediately turned to the monitors and began watching them like a hawk, so the rest of us were left with nothing to do except twiddle our thumbs and look out the window.

I wandered over to the window that was facing the Alliance base.

"Activate HUD," I murmured. The lights on the outside of my level 3 RIG helmet lit up, causing a slight glare on the window. Inside the helmet though, the effect was all but unnoticible. The HUD displayed a small map in the lower left hand corner and a weapon overheat meter in the top right. The bar was empty at the moment since I wasn't holding a weapon, but microsensors in the gloves would detect the grip of a weapon and display its overheat gauge in the HUD when I needed it. There was a kinetic barrier meter located at the top of the screen, which turned combat into a version of Halo.

I noticed two blue outlines appear in the shadows of the city. _There you are. _The outlines belonged to Timmy and Ricky. Tillman had made the HUD recognize the specialized Friend-Or-Foe tags in our suits, and so the other members were outlined in the color of blue whenever we were in the field. Tillman hadn't quite figured out how to make the enemies outlined yet, but he had plenty of downtime to do so. I watched the duo slowly make their way towards the rear of the Alliance base.

They made it close to the service entrance, but Ricky rushed ahead just as a searchlight passed close to his position. He made it across the short distance from his hiding spot to the door, but Timmy was stuck with a light blocking his path. I cut off my external helmet comms and opened a private line with the Fury's AI.

"TRON, I want you to monitor any suspicious non-Alliance chatter. If something comes up, just put it through, don't wait for my approval." I normally do that with every job because we have been ambushed a few times, so it's always just a precaution. I closed the line and turned around to look at Mr. Leng, who was currently breathing a huge sigh of relief. He noticed me looking at him and spoke.

"Your pal here almost ruined the op," he said.

"It's under control," I assured him. "They know what they're doing." I turned back to the window. Timmy was still stuck behind a small wall while Ricky was motioning for him to hurry up. They were probably talking to each other from the way Ricky was moving his hands. I was about to cut into their conversation when somebody else's cut into mine. I was bewildered by this freak incident before I realized it was a comm channel from TRON.

"How soon for the exfil?" That voice was certainly turian, but it sounded slightly higher pitched than all the other turian voices I'd ever heard. _Wonder what that means...maybe the guy got it hit in the wrong place and never recovered._

"Just wait for the signal. Go on the mark." Batarian, that was obvious. _What the hell is this?_ A few seconds passed before I heard Tillman shout out.

"What the fuck?" he exclaimed. I whirled around and saw him facing the second of two windows, this one facing the city. Instead of a normal light-filled city though, there appeared to be a very large fireball emanating from a plaza of some kind off in the distance, the reverberation of the shockwave shaking our room.

"Now, that is an explosion," Alex yelled. I stared in astonishment for a moment before I remembered Ricky and Timmy. I turned back to the Alliance base, my HUD still displaying the positions of the two Echo members.

Ricky was standing in front of the service entrance, staring at the fire cloud rising from the city while Timmy was rushing towards Ricky. An instant later, all the lights in the Alliance compound snapped on, illuminating the entire complex. Ricky seemed to figure out that the lights meant he'd be caught, and turned his head to look at Timmy when the door opened and an black armored figure sprinted out.

Whoever it was slammed right into Ricky, knocking both of them to the floor. The person who burst out of the base quickly jumped up and ran off, leaving Ricky lying on the ground, holding his foot in pain. I snapped into my leader mode, shouting out orders.

"Ajax, Flynn, pursue that target," I barked. "Ghost, Necro, Leng, you're with me, we're going for the others." Echo 3 and 5 were already out the door by the time I had finished giving orders. Leng was grabbing his Avenger assault rifle that he had brought with him from the Fury as Ghost and Necro dashed out of the room.

"Let's move it," I yelled, then I was heading out as well. We thundered down the staircase of the hotel until we reached the bottom floor, where we then exited the building and sprinted towards the Alliance base to save Ricardo and Ninja.

By now, the Alliance had figured out that its colony had just become a victim of a terrorist attack of some kind, and had mobilized what seemed to be all of its men. There had to be at least a hundred men flooding out and away from the base to discover what the hell just happened in their city. Fortunately, they didn't have too many men watching the back door, but even the ones that they did have there were too busy staring at the raging inferno off in the distance.

We rushed inside the perimeter of the compound, making a beeline towards Ricardo, who was still lying on the floor. Ghost and Leng were watching the sides while Necro and myself had the front and back of our makeshift diamond formation as we moved towards my teammates. Without alerting any Alliance soldiers, we made it to Echo 4 and 6.

"Ricardo, how you doing?" I asked quickly, my voice coming from my external speakers. He grunted in pain.

"Whoever steamrolled me on their way out must have twisted or sprained my ankle when I fell," he said. "I don't think I can walk." When the situation's serious, the guy cuts right to the chase, I'll give him credit for that. I motioned for Necro and Ninja to help him to his feet, then turned to Kai Leng.

"We've gotta get out of here," I said. "Now."

"The objective's right here," he exclaimed. "We can't leave without it!"

"I'm not willing to risk the safety of my friends just so we can get something now instead of later," I retorted. "We're leaving."

"I'll get the data myself then," Leng argued.

"Fine," I said. "Risk going into a base on high alert. We're heading back to the Fury, if you aren't there in thirty minutes, we're leaving without you." Kai rushed through the service entrance without another word. I turned back to my friends who were helping Ricardo.

"Can you get him back to the Fury?" I asked them.

"Aren't you coming?" Necro asked. I shook my head.

"No," I said. "Ghost, I want you to come with me. We're going to check out that explosion."

"Sounds fun," Ghost said. I started jogging off away from the base with Ghost following me, while Ricardo was carried out on the shoulders of Necro and Ninja.

* * *

As Ghost and I jogged towards the giant smoke plume rising out of the angry dark red sky, I opened a private communication channel with Ajax.

"Ajax, how's it going on the hunt?" I asked.

"Just fine," he replied, slightly out of breath. "We had to run to catch up with the turian at the beginning, but he's fleeing with the crowds now."

"So it is a turian?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "It is definitely a turian. He appears to be fleeing towards the spaceport, as are a ton of other people."

"Has he seen you?"

"No. The crowds prevent him from seeing us, and I'm pretty sure he didn't notice us following him in the first place. It's like Assassin's Creed, in a way."

"Ok, good," I said. "Ghost and I are moving to check out the explosion, Ricardo, Ninja, and Necro are heading back to the Fury, and Leng is getting the data we came for."

"I wish I could be heading towards the crater," Ajax complained. "Following a turian is much less fun." I just cut off the comm line. This wasn't the time to be joking around, as much as I agreed with him. I don't think I can remember a time when so many civilians were killed at once. That was a huge explosion, it had to have killed at least a couple dozen people.

"We're coming up on the bomb site," Ghost informed me. "Should be just up ahead." I looked up towards the sky. The stars were blotted out by the ever-growing plume of smoke with ash falling from the sky. The light from the fires made it seem like the heavens themselves were bleeding from the blast. _I just hope we can find something other than death..._

* * *

Ajax shifted through the ocean of people fleeing from the blast, all the while keeping his eye on the absurdedly calm turian.

"From the way this guy is walking so...normally, you'd think someone would notice him," Ajax said to Flynn.

"Yeah," Flynn agreed. "At least he's easy to track this way."

"You know it." They followed the turian as he split away from the main crowd and traveled into the line of private hangars.

"Where the hell is this guy going?" Ajax wondered aloud.

"My guess is an FTL-capable shuttle," Flynn said. "It'd get him off-world, and to wherever he's headed next."

"Then we need a tracker." Flynn cocked his head. It was the easiest way of showing curiosity or confusion while in the armor.

"Tracker?" he asked. Ajax looked over at him.

"Yeah, tracking beacon. There's no way we aren't following this guy."

"Oh! Ok, here." Flynn pulled a small object off his belt and handed it to Ajax.

"This works in the usual way, right?" Ajax asked. Flynn nodded.

"Yep. Stick it on the ship, and it's good for the next month. Unless they find it, but you know that never happens." The turian suddenly turned from the hallway he was walking down into a private hangar. Ajax got right up close to the doorway and poked his head around the corner.

He saw a small ship, but it looked large enough to fly wherever it needed to. The turian was entering the ship from the rear, his back to the doorway of the hangar. Ajax glanced down at the small tracking beacon in his hand, then back at Flynn.

"Cover me," he whispered, then he dashed out towards the ship. Flynn quietly drew his pistol and readied himself, just in case it was necessary. As the ramp leading into the ship was closing, Ajax rushed up and slapped the tracker onto the hull of the ship. He then quietly ran as fast as he could back out of the private hangar.

He tossed himself to the side of the doorway, then stood back up and peeked around the corner. The ship gently lifted off the ground and rose into the air. After clearing the hangar doors, the ship activated its thrusters and rocketed off into the night sky. Flynn put his pistol back on his belt and watched the ship fly away.

"That went surprisingly well," Flynn mused.

"Yeah, that never happens," Ajax agreed. "Well, back to the Fury then.

"Yep." The two began walking back to their ship when Thunder's voice popped into their helmets.

"Uhh...got a problem here guys," he said.

"What's up?" Flynn asked.

"Can you bring Preytor over to the giant smoke cloud?" Flynn glanced over at Ajax, who had to have had the same confused expression on his face.

"Sure, why?"

"Why not?"

"What have you gotten into?"

"Oh, nothing big," Thunder said nonchalantly. "Just this." The sound of a very commanding voice replaced Thunder's.

"You are being placed under arrest of suspicion of participating in a terrorist attack on the colony of Bekenstein. Get down on the floor with your hands behind your head." The communication line cut off after that. Ajax looked over at Flynn.

"I'll go warm up the gunship..." Flynn said with a sigh.

**Author's Note: The plot thickens. Just like in every single other chapter I write. The story's moving along though, so that's a plus, as always. Thanks for reading, please review, yadda, yadda, yadda-SPACE! Sorry, Portal 2 has had an interesting effect on my brain. Until next time!**


	11. We were just there!

**Author's Note: Yeah, another early update. Enjoy.**

5 minutes earlier

The fires were increasing in frequency as Ghost and I neared the giant smoke plume. We hadn't traveled too far from the Alliance base before the streets became devoid of life. The few people we had passed earlier were all running away from the blast, but everyone else seemed to have already gotten the hell out of dodge. Distant sirens could be heard, most likely rescue vehicles nearing the site of the explosion.

When we were almost on top of the blast site, we came across a pile of rubble blocking the path to our destination. Fortunately for us, there was a flat solid slab of whatever the buildings around us were made of at the peak of this seven to eight foot tall junk pile. I walked right up to the base of it and motioned for Ghost to come closer.

"Here, gimme a boost," I told him. He came over and bent down, lacing his fingers together for me to use as a stepping stone. I put one foot in his hands and stood as straight as I could, using the chunks of rubble to balance myself as he lifted me towards the top.

"Lay off the Twinkies, would ya?" he grunted. Once I was high enough, I grabbed the edge and pulled myself up. I then immediately turned around, not even catching a glimpse of the blast site before I laid down on my stomach and extended a hand down to Ghost.

"I don't even like Twinkies," I replied jokingly. "Not to mention I don't even think they make those anymore." Ghost grabbed my hand, and I hauled him up to the point where he could climb up next to me on his own. As he was getting to his feet, I turned around to survey the area.

"Jesus..."I muttered. The plaza before me had a big crater smack dab in the center of it. I mean BIG. It must have been at least the size of a city block back on Earth. There were small fires scattered all around the area, as were the dozens of bodies of poor innocents that got caught in the blast. I dropped down from the ledge I was standing on into the plaza. Ghost followed my lead, dropping next to me.

He asked me "Who the hell would do this?" I kept staring at the devastation in front of me.

"I don't know," I said simply. We watched the fires burn for a few moments before I started walking forward.

"Hey, where you going?" Ghost called.

"We don't have long before authorities show up," I told him. "If we're going to find any evidence of who did this, we've gotta be quick." Ghost got the point and began scouting out the area, his Avenger drawn and ready. I did the same and started moving off in a different direction. We had only taken a few steps before something clattered against the ruined pavement close to Ghost. We both whirled around to see what made the noise. Nothing was moving on the ground level, but up above on a second story rooftop, there was a shadowy figure quickly rising from a crouched position, ready to run.

"Contact," I shouted. The figure began sprinting away across the tops of the buildings, a dark cloak of some sort billowing out from behind him. _Ooo, a shadowy figure fleeing the scene of the crime. Like I haven't seen this before. _

Ghost turned to face the closest destroyed building next to him and ran inside in an attempt to pursue this unknown person.

"I'll go on the rooftops," he shouted over our helmet communicators. "Try to track him on the ground!"

"Got it," I confirmed, and then set out on a full-tilt sprint to follow the fleeing target. I saw the pursuee leap across a rooftop in the distance, and I ducked down an alleyway that led to his position. The lighting around here really didn't make it any easier to see this guy. If it wasn't for him making a noise, I don't think we would have ever seen him.

"You got him, right?" I asked Ghost.

"Yeah," came his breathless reply. "He's just running away from me, I don't think he knows you're down below." I came to an intersection of alleyways that split off in four different directions. The target was nowhere to be seen.

"Shit! Lost him," I exclaimed.

"3 'o clock! 3 'o clock!" I jerked my head to look to my right and picked up on a blue outlined person jumping across the alleyway's rooftops. I silently thanked my HUD, and then began jogging in the right direction. _Oh, I hate running!_ I ran down the alleyway towards Ghost, tripping over a bunch of randomly placed junk as I did so. Pathetically, I fell flat on my face, my nose impacting on the inside of the helmet I was wearing.

"Goddamn it, son of a bitch," I exclaimed, quoting General Sarrano from Bulletstorm. As vulgar as that character was, he got situations described perfectly just by cursing. Undeterred however, I climbed back to my feet and started running again. Ghost's voice came through my helmet.

"Where the hell are you?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I shouted. "This on-foot idea isn't going very well though!"

"Just passed an Alliance squad," Ghost replied. "Get on a roof, otherwise they'll catch you." I glanced around to find the closest door and ran up to it. The door was locked, and I didn't have the time to hack through it. I sprayed the keypad next to the entrance with gunfire, which caused the lock mechanism to override, opening the door. I dashed inside and was greeted with a stairwell. _Just what I need!_ I ran up the stairs, taking the steps three at a time.

After spending a few moments running up the stairs, I made it to the roof. I could see Ghost trying to keep pace with the cloaked figure, but he was obviously losing this footrace. The guy had to be going at least fifteen miles per hour. On a normal day, we could have kept up with him, but our armor, fatgiue, and the fact that we were jumping over rooftops slowed us down. From the way this mysterious person was running though, he seemed to be holding himself back, like he wanted us to keep up with him.

Even though I was quickly running out of stamina, I readied myself for the jump across the rooftops. It was a good thing all the buildings around here were low to the ground, I had no inclination to go jumping from highrise to highrise. I took a running leap and jumped across to another rooftop. Ghost wasn't too far ahead, only four or five rooftops.

I managed to get within fifty feet of Ghost when the cloaked figure suddenly whipped out what was obviously a detonator of some kind. Without speaking, I tried to stop myself just in case there was a bomb planted on one of these buildings while Ghost tried to speed up to the figure. Out of nowhere, the rooftops all around Ghost and I burst into light, the strongest I had ever encountered.

I heard Ghost fall to the ground with a grunt of pain. _Flashbangs. He was leading us here. _That was when my left foot went to take a step in my attempt to slow down but encountered no resistance from the ground. I found myself falling off the rooftop I was on, the flashbang grenade preventing me from seeing the edge. I had time to think of one short sentence before I hit the ground. _This is gonna hurt._

I pulled a full front flip and then some, landing straight on my back two stories down. My armor absorbed most of the impact fortunately, but it still shook me around. After the customary moaning in pain, I decided to just lie on the floor and wait for Ghost to come see my sorry state. It gave me a chance to relax and just sit there, letting my lungs refill my blood with oxygen after all that wasted running. _All that work and we screwed it up right at the end. Figures... _

I closed my eyes to relax and laid there for a minute or so until I heard Ghost in my helmet.

"Did anybody get the license plate for that truck?" he asked groggedly.

"You know vehicles don't have license plates anymore," I told him.

"It's an expression, just let me use it!" I opened my eyes and saw Ghost's helmet pop out over the lip of the roof above me.

"Wow," he said. "That looks like it hurt."

"What makes you think that? It's kind of relaxing down here." Ghost's head bobbed in agreement.

"Yeah, the guy got away. At least we don't have to chase him anymore." I heard some quiet muffled voices coming from off to my right side.

"I hear voices," I announced. "I'm too lazy to turn my head, can you look for me?"

"You lazy...bum..." I detected the slight apprehension in Ghost's voice.

"What is it?" I asked. "What's wrong?" There was a moment's pause before Ghost replied.

"Sorry, buddy. You're on your own." I frowned in confusion at his words.

"Wait, what? What does that mean?" A second later, I found out. A deep, commanding voice rang out through the dimly lit alleyway.

"You there! On the floor!" I turned my head to see who was yelling at me and came face to face with an Alliance squad. _Oh, this won't be good. _My mind raced as I quickly came up with a plan. Within a second or two, I decided on one that may or may not end with me on the Alliance's Most Wanted list, or whatever they used, but it seemed like the best option.

As I struggled to my feet, I opened up a link with Ajax and Flynn, hoping they were done with chasing down that turian.

"Uhh...got a problem here guys," I said.

"What's up?" Flynn asked. From the casual way he was speaking, they must have caught the turian.

"Can you bring Preytor over to the giant smoke cloud?" There was a moment of pause over the comm as I was being eyed by the Alliance men in front of me.

"Sure, why?" Flynn said.

"Why not?" I replied, trying to play it cool.

"What have you gotten into?" Flynn inquired. The CO of the squad called out again.

"You in the armor! Do not move!"

"Oh, nothing big," I said casually. "Just this." I switched the microphone input on the helmet from internal to external just in time to hear the Alliance officer speak.

"You are being placed under arrest of suspicion of participating in a terrorist attack on the colony of Bekenstein," he said. "Get down on the floor with your hands behind your head." I ended the link with Flynn and Ajax in order to speak with the Alliance.

"I haven't done anything," I argued. "You can't do this!" The squad of about eight people all raised their guns at the same time and pointed them at me.

"Get down on the ground. Now." I quickly complied. I didn't exactly want to become target practice for these guys. As I was lying on the floor being handcuffed by the Alliance, I switched back to talking with Ghost.

"You've gotta help me here, pal," I told him. "I can't get arrested, I'll be in jail for weeks!"

"It's eight guys," Ghost replied. "Eight MILITARY professionals. I can't do anything non-violent, because then I'll be arrested too, and I can't shoot them because then we bring the whole army down on us."

"So...you won't help me?"

"It's not a case of I won't, it's a case of I can't. I'm sorry. Really. I'll follow you if I can though, but if there's a risk that I'll be seen, I gotta go." The Alliance dragged me to my feet and shoved me forward, my hands behind my back.

"Alright," I said quietly. "I understand. If you have to leave me, just make sure everyone else gets out ok. Forget about me if you have to, just get them out safely." The Alliance began marching me out of the alleyway and back onto the main street, heading to their base. Ghost hung his head for a moment before he rose from his crouched position on the roof and began following me down the road.

* * *

Ajax and Flynn stepped through the airlock and onto the main deck of the SSV Fury.

"Ajax," Flynn said. "Go see if the others are here. I'll get the gunship over to Thunder." Ajax nodded in his usual stoic manner and wandered off down a hallway in search of the rest of Dead Echo. Flynn began walking in the direction of the elevator to the second deck.

"TRON, can you get the Fury in the air? Thunder needs me to get the gunship to him." The ship immediately shuddered gently as it lifted out of its docking bay and into the sky.

"Who's Tron?" Flynn jumped at the voice behind him and quickly turned around to see Kai Leng standing in front of him.

"God, don't DO that," Flynn exclaimed. "I hate being scared!"

"Toughen up, kid," Leng said. "Sheesh, all I did was ask a question."

"Still, I dislike being startled..." There was a moment of awkward silence between the two before Kai spoke up.

"So, who's this Tron?"

"Uhh..." Flynn couldn't reveal TRON's identity, nor could he lie about it without confirming his story with everyone else.

"You know, I'm kind of in a rush here," Flynn said evasively. "I've gotta go rescue the other two guys, so we'll talk later, k?" Without waiting for a reply, Flynn turned and jogged to the elevator. Upon reaching it, he double-checked the hall to see if the Cerberus agent had followed him. There was no sign of Mr. Leng.

Flynn pulled the secret lever that called the elevator. The wall slid open instantly, and Flynn rushed inside and sent it down as fast as he could in order to avoid Kai Leng accidentally coming across it. _As stupid as hiding an elevator behind a wall is, it's pretty handy for secrecy._

The elevator door opened and Flynn ran out into the hall. He went through the next door to find Preytor the Mantis gunship on its landing pad. Flynn hurridly rushed inside and settled himself into the cockpit. He sealed the gunship's hatch and activated the thrusters, lifting Preytor about a foot off the metal floor. He then remotely opened the hanger bay's door, the circular pad underneath him. It opened by splitting into multiple segments that retracted into the actual floor, providing a large enough space for the gunship to drop down out of the Fury and begin flying through the air to the smoke cloud in the distance.

Flynn tweaked a few settings on the control panel in front of him, then opened a communication channel with Thunder.

"Ok, what's your 20?" he asked.

"Not sure," came the reply. "We're on a large street with stores to both sides. I overheard one saying I'm going back to their base."

"10-4. I'll scan for you, then do whatever you want me to once I find you."

"Got it. Ghost is following me on the rooftops, he'll need to be picked up at the same time as I do."

"Roger that. Going 10-10."

"What the hell's with all the numbers? I understand the 20 and 10-4, but 10-10?"

"It means I'm going silent," Flynn explained. "I'm listening to anything you say, but I'm not going to just babble in your ear."

"Oh. Ok. That's alright then, your voice does get a bit annoying."

"Thunder..." Flynn said warningly.

"What?" he replied innocently. Flynn switched his mic off so he could laugh without disturbing Thunder, but he kept the link open just in case anything needed to be said.

* * *

I continued to be shoved along the road by the Alliance. Somehow, I had to figure out a way to get away from these guys and onto Preytor when I had the chance. At the moment, that was seemingly impossible. They hadn't taken my weapons off me, but that was probably because they couldn't carry them since they were fully outfitted like I was. I knew for sure that they'd be ripped off me when we reached the base, including my helmet.

I covertly glanced up at the rooftops to either side of me. There was no sign of Ghost, but then again, he wasn't called Ghost for no reason. An idea occured to me as I looked around. _Hey...this street is wide enough for a gunship to land on, even fly down it too if the pilot's good enough... _A smile formed on my lips.

"Flynn," I said into my helmet. "I know how we're getting out of here. I want you to fly down along the street I'm on and buzz these Alliance guys. When they dive out of the way, I'll make a break for the alleys, but I'll come back to the road where you'll land and I run inside with Ghost. Then, we fly out of here back to the Fury and figure out where Kai Leng is."

"Understood," Flynn replied. "And Leng's already on the Fury."

"Oh. That's a pleasant surprise. Did he find what we were looking for?"

"No, he didn't make any mention of it."

"That's alright," I said. "Just get down here and get me out of here."

"Roger that, on my way." Flynn cut the link off at that point, leaving me to walk in silence. I considered contacting Jake, but I figured it'd be more fun when he realized what was going on after a gunship flies down the street.

A few seconds had passed before I saw three small pinpoints of light through all the smoke in front of me. _Here we go... _The lights quickly revealed themselves to be attached to a Mantis gunship that was rapidly descending towards ground level.

"The hell?" one of the marines exclaimed incredulously. _And that's my cue! _I waited until the gunship was skimming the ground and quickly closing the distance between it and the Alliance before I jerked to the side and began running for an opening between buildings.

"Hey, stop," a marine shouted. I looked over my shoulder as I ran to see the Alliance begin moving towards me, assault rifles raised, but then they remembered the gunship barreling down on them. They all dived to the floor, their hands covering their heads as I ran into the alleyway. I let out a cackle at their misfortune of being attacked by a suicidal gunship pilot when Ghost's voice cut into my head.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Escaping, duh," I retorted. "That's Preytor. If you wanna leave, I suggest you come with me!"

"Oh, for...fine." A dark form dropped down next to me from the roof. Ghost rose and followed me away from the alley I entered and through another one that led right back to the street. As I was about to go through it, Ghost grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"You just came from there," he said. "Now you want to go back?"

"Just follow my lead, everything'll be fine!" He let go, trusting my judgement. It shows a lot about a person when they're willing to risk going to prison with you all because of some crazy plan you thought up. I squeezed through the small passageway and ended up back on the main avenue.

Preytor was flying up and down the street continously as I ran out into the open. Flynn must have picked me up on the sensors because he pulled up in mid-flight and headed towards us. Ghost glanced back down the alleyway and noticed the Alliance staring us down.

"There they are," one shouted. I stepped to the side out of view of the soldiers who began shooting at us. We had only a few seconds before one of them got through and opened fire. With my hands behind my back, I couldn't get a weapon, and if Ghost attacked them, we'd instantly become criminals instead of just suspects.

Flynn landed a short distance away from us with the hatch down, ready to pick us up. Ghost and I mad a mad dash for the gunship, sprinting as fast as we could. I hurried up into the rear section of the gunship just as the first marine made it back onto the road. Predictibly, he started shooting as the hatch closed, protecting us from his bullets.

Preytor lifted off the ground and turned back to face the soldiers spilling out of the alley. With multiple weapons being fired on us, Flynn pushed the throttle up, speeding towards the Alliance again. They were forced to dive out of the way once more, and we pulled up and zoomed off into the smoke. Flynn turned around from his pilot's chair.

"Are you two ever not under attack?" he asked jokingly.

"It certainly seems like it," I replied. "That was a close one."

"Closer than that brush with C-Sec back on the Citadel?" I laughed at that.

"No, I doubt it. That was the best so far."

"Here," Ghost said. "Let me get your handcuffs off for you."

"Huh? Oh, thanks." I turned around and let Jake pry my cuffs off.

"So, Evon," I started. "Now that we're done here, and not coming back for a very long time, where are we going?"

"I dunno," he replied. "Mr. Leng didn't mention if he found where Anderson was, and Alex and I got a tracker on the turian's ship. We have at least one lead on where we're going next, that's good."

"Yep. Better than no leads obviously." My hands were suddenly freed from their bonds. I rubbed my wrists to help relieve the pain.

"Thanks," I said to Jake. "They put those on a little too tight."

"No problem. You did get us both out of there without getting us arrested."

"I didn't actually get put in jail, so I guess you're right. But it wasn't me, you should thank Evon here."

"Naw," came a voice from the cockpit. "You came up with the idea."

"But you were the one flying the gunship," I argued playfully.

"You told me what to do."

"Actually..." Jake interjected. "Joseph, you got us in that mess in the first place, so Evon, thank you for getting us out of there."

"What?" I said. "But...I...fine. Just get us back to the Fury." Evon chuckled from up in the cockpit.

"Point to me," he muttered.

* * *

I poked my head out of the elevator and looked up and down the hallway. Kai Leng was nowhere to be seen.

"Ok," I whispered. "Coast is clear." Evon, Jake, and I quickly stepped out of the elevator and waited for the wall to seal back up.

"Alright," I announced. "Gather everybody in the galley, I want to talk to them. I'll meet you guys there in a few minutes." They walked off to round everyone up, and I looked up at the ceiling.

"TRON, get us out of here. Put us on a course out-system...no, just put us in orbit actually. I don't know where we're going yet." I felt the ship move just ever so slightly, activating the thrusters. I headed in the direction of the captain's cabin. There was something I had to do...

* * *

I left the bathroom, the toilet still in the process of flushing behind me. I didn't realize I had to pee so badly until I walked in the room, but stakeout duty can mess with a guy's mind like that, I suppose. I walked over to the terminal on the desk in the room. I powered it up and navigated to the passcode screen. A simple four digit code had to be inputted in. I typed it in_. 536...4. There we go_. Those were my parents' birthdates back home. I thought it fitting to use as a code for storing the two important items we had from back home.

The drawer under the desk unlocked with a soft click, and I pulled it open. My iPod and iPhone lay inside, staring up at me. Gently, I picked up my phone and turned it on. I unlocked it and hit the button for the internet. It opened a web page displaying the Mass Effect wiki. I scrolled down a little and found the Mass Effect 3 in the list of games. My finger hovered over the words_. If I look this up, I'd know everything there is to know about how to make everything in this galaxy work out...but at the same time, I may not like what I find_. I stood silently for a few seconds before turning the phone off with a sigh.

Every time I narrowly avoided death or capture, I felt compelled to check what the plot of ME3 was, but every time I went to do it, I lost my resolve. If it turns out the Reapers won at the end, then living with the knowledge that everything would be killed in just a few short years would be almost unbearable. I just couldn't bring myself to look it up. _Maybe when it's closer to the finale, then I'll do it. But not now._

I sealed the drawer back up and walked out of the room, my destination the galley. I walked inside to find everyone except Jake and Kai Leng eating. Jake was telling a story while Kai was leaning up against a wall looking bored.

"So, just when it looks like we might be able to catch this guy," Jake said, "he sets off these flashbang grenades all around us. I collapsed to the ground, but poor Joseph, he accidentally ran off the edge of this building, did a full front flip, and landed right on his back!" Everyone, except for Kai, burst into raucous laughter.

"How the hell do you "accidentally" run off a roof?" Tillman asked with a mouthful of food.

"By being blinded right as you're about to jump," I said, announcing my presence. The room went quiet instantly. I let my gaze wander over everyone in the room for a couple seconds before I finally gave in and laughed myself, everyone joining me.

"Ok, ok," Jake continued as the laughter died down. I quickly poured myself a glass of water, then took my place at the table to hear Jake's retelling of the story. "So, these flashbangs must have alerted the Alliance because next thing I know, Joe here's being arrested for being a terrorist."

"Like he's never blown anything up before," Alex muttered under his breath.

"Ok," I admitted. "I did probably look suspicious. They could have at least asked what I was doing."

"Sorry to say it," Ricky said. "But running towards the big explosion isn't one of your smarter ideas."

"Hey, in my defense, we did actually find someone."

"You just couldn't catch him like we got our guy," Evon said sarcastically.

"That reminds me," I said. "How'd that go?"

"Quite well, actually. We have a tracking beacon on the guy's ship now, so we can follow him."

"You know where he's going?" I asked. Evon consulted his omni-tool briefly.

"It looks like...he's on course for Tuchanka, of all places." I raised an eyebrow.

"A turian on Tuchanka? Boy, that'll end well. At least we know where we're going now."

"Actually..." I turned to face Kai Leng.

"I've got information on Captain Anderson," he said. "He's the priority."

"Woah, wait a sec. This turian injured one of my men-"

"I'm ok," Ricky said, interrupting me. I slowly looked at him for a moment before turning back to Leng.

"As I was saying...this turian injured one of my men and ran off. He also just happened to be doing the same thing we were doing, except he beat us to it. Don't you think it's a little bit too much of a coincidence for that explosion to happen just as we tried to break in the base?"

"Doesn't matter," Leng said, shaking his head. "We have what we came for. The Illusive Man wants this substance back as fast as possible."

"Oh yeah?" I challenged. "What is this substance anyway?" I noticed the others edging out of the room away from the conversation. It wasn't so much a conversation anymore as it was a confrontation.

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with," he said dismissively. "You're being paid to retrieve it, not analyze it." We stared each other down for a few seconds before I broke it off.

"Fine. We'll go have a friendly chat with Anderson. AFTER we check out that turian."

"We're going to find Anderson, NOW. That is final."

"You know what?" I said, throwing my hands in the air. "Fine. You win. We'll go find Anderson. And at the same time, we'll investigate that turian." Kai Leng frowned and opened his mouth to object, but I cut him off.

"Look, I've got seven guys, plus you. I send some of us to check out Tuchanka, and the rest go after Anderson." Kai's facial expression told me he was trying to find a fault with that plan, but he couldn't come up with anything.

"Alright," he conceded. "That works. You send your guys to look at that turian, the rest come with me to find Anderson."

"Good. I'm glad we could come to an agreement. Now, where is Anderson?" Mr. Leng's attitude immediately brightened.

"While you kids were off chasing mysterious terrorists, I actually did some work. I slipped in, found the personnel database, and downloaded Anderson's current position."

"Which is..."

"He's on leave on the Citadel," Kai said.

"What the fu...we were just there," I exclaimed. "Why the hell didn't we just check the database on the Citadel, huh? This was a waste of time!"

"It was impossible to check the database there. We would need top-level access, unlike an outpost like this," he said patiently.

"Yeah, but...never mind. I'll go set a course for the Citadel..."

"Good," Leng said simply. I stepped out of the room and waited for the door to seal before I spoke to the ceiling again.

"TRON, we're going to the Citadel. Set a course." The ship vibrated in agreement. I stood silently for a few moments before lashing out, kicking the wall. In my frustration though, I forgot about the possibility of pain. I spent the next minute or so hopping up and down on one foot, quietly cursing Kai Leng out. I really hate that man.

**Author's Note: Jurassic Park quote right at the end, I love that movie. I hope that was sufficiently intriguing for you, it was for me. Review if you wish, as always. I always get that little burst of joy when I get an email saying "new review", so make me happy! Or risk bringing down Thunder's Fury upon you! Rawrg! Ok, I'm done. Sorry for being insane.**


	12. Alone? With all those krogan?

I was sitting at the computer terminal in the captain's quarters, copying all the files on the Tantalus drive core into an OSD. It would have taken me at least an hour to track down each individual file, but fortunately, I had TRON to help me. Ok, it was more like he was doing it for me, but what mattered was that it was getting done. After TRON had copied all the files over, I stared at the screen instead of removing the OSD. A text chat window appeared on the screen.

[Is there a problem?]

"No," I said idly. "Just...hold on." I stood up out of my seat and walked over to the drawer where I kept my important "valuables". I input the code and the drawer slid open, allowing me to take out my phone. I went to the Mass Effect wiki on the internet and brought up the page for the Kestrel armor_. Yes...this could do nicely._

Ever since we had found the level 1 RIG helmets onboard the Fury, Tillman had bugging the hell out of me to find something that could be used as the Advanced RIG in Dead Space 2 for the folding helmet design. None of the other armors I had come across had enough space around the neck for such a design to be plausible, but then I remembered that I could make my own armor. We didn't exactly have a factory or a research lab, but if Cerberus was being handed the design for the Tantalus drive core, then they could at least make a set of armor that we could customize ourselves. Tillman could get the helmet working, he'd just need the armor for it.

I went back to the desk and brought up a blank document. I then spent ten minutes or so typing up the description for each part of the armor and transferring pictures of them to the file for Cerberus to use as reference. I left out any information pertaining to the helmet and the armor's origins. The helmet would be handled by ourselves, and the origin of this armor, well, that's kind of a given. Upon finishing the makeshift idea sheet, I put the file on the OSD and removed it from the terminal. TRON's text chat window popped back up on the screen.

[That's an interesting armor idea.]

"Yeah," I replied. "It solves the upgrade issue that Tillman was having."

[The Tantalus schematics will be traded to Cerberus in return for the construction of the armor, correct?]

"Got it in one," I said as I moved towards the drawer. I was in the process of placing the phone and OSD back inside when the door to the captain's quarters and all of Dead Echo filed inside, talking loudly and holding bowls of popcorn.

"Woah, woah, woah, what is this?" I asked. Ricky gave me a little wave.

"We're gonna watch a movie," he said excitedly. "It's been a while!"

"Really? What movie?"

"We were thinking of something off your phone," Tillman said.

"Wow, that has been a while," I mused. "Well, that's fine as long as you brought popcorn for me!" I tossed my phone over to Tillman who almost dropped his bowl trying to catch it. He walked over to the large television screen we had mounted on the wall and turned it on. Then he activated his omni-tool and put it down next to the TV, along with my phone. He chose a movie and hit a few keys on his omni-tool. The omni-tool started to stream the video on my phone and displayed it onto the large screen in front of us. I had no idea how it was possible to do that with such a time difference between the two technologies, but hey, it worked.

I settled next to my buddies on the couch and began passing popcorn bowls back and forth as the beginning of Inception played out. No matter how many times I had seen this movie, it never got boring. At least this would make the short annoying trip back to the Citadel less annoying.

* * *

Kai Leng cautiously entered the medical bay of the ship, looking all around. Seeing nobody in the vicinity, he closed and sealed the door, then polarized the window so it was impossible to see inside the room. He opened his omni-tool and activated the one secure comm channel he always kept in standby.

"I'm here," he said.

"Ah, good," came the Illusive Man's reply. "A private location, I assume?"

"Yes. The children are watching a movie elsewhere on the ship." TIM picked up on the hint of contempt in Lang's voice.

"I don't like relying on a bunch of children to do our jobs either, but it's necessary," he said. "Their reputation is quickly growing, and they have the advantage of looking young when they need to. Don't think they can't handle the situation even though they aren't adults."

"Their performence has been...adequate," Leng acknowledged. "But a terrorist attack almost spoiled the job."

"Yes...I heard about that. From both the news and our mysterious benefactor." Kai Lang stayed silent.

"He wants to meet you," TIM said abruptly. Kai frowned in confusion.

"Who does?" he asked.

"Our benefactor. The man in charge of this operation."

"I thought this was a Cerberus op?"

"It is. But even Cerberus gets its money from somewhere, and this man requested he be put in charge of the project in exchange for our largest donation yet. As such, he wishes to meet with you on the Citadel. As soon as possible."

"We're heading there now," Kai said. "Captain Anderson is-"

"On leave there," TIM interrupted. "Our benefactor informed me on behalf of his source."

"And this source would be..."

"The so-called "terrorists"."

"Wait, the job was a set-up?" Kai asked incredulously.

"Our benefactor wanted the same information you did. He's not a Cerberus agent, I don't know his plans or motives. As much as it pains me to say it, I barely know anything about him. But he's given us a large sum of money, so I have to allow some leeway with him. Now, he wants to meet you, and only you. Make sure you have Dead Echo busy when you speak with him."

"I'll have everything ready. The vial will be back in our possesion shortly."

"See to it that it is." With that, the link was closed, reverting back into a standby mode. Kai Leng pondered the conversation for a few moments before quickly unpolarizing the window and leaving the room. A small camera in a darkened corner whirred quietly, the entire conversation now stored in TRON's data banks.

* * *

I stood near the entrance to Zakera Ward on the Citadel with Dead Echo and Kai Leng behind me, helmets and disguise on respectively. The foot traffic around us provided a good cover of noise for anybody attempting to overhear our conversation.

"Ok," I said with a sigh. "I'll go get it over with." Everyone except for Kai nodded in acceptance. Kai looked around at all of us in confusion.

"Get what over with?" he asked us.

"Every time one of us walks through that C-Sec scanner, we get hauled off to C-Sec headquarters for a friendly chat. Every. Single. Time. It's really annoying..."

"Why do they do that?"

"It's because they suspect that we're here to cause trouble. Don't get me wrong, we have before, but they have no evidence to convict us. All they can do is bring us in for a talk and give us evil looks."

"So...is it just you that goes in?" I nodded.

"Yep," I replied. "We figured out a while ago that if just one of us goes in and gets cleared, then the rest can go in no problem. Until I tell you though, you're stuck out here. So have fun being bored!" I turned on my heel and briskly walked past customs and into the security scanner. I waited for it to pass over me a couple times, then readied myself for the customary C-Sec annoyance.

"Oh," the turian in front of me stated flatly. "Our scanners show that we're ordered to bring you to C-Sec headquarters on the Presidium. Will you comply?"

"Yes," I said in a bored tone. Surprisingly, the turian picked up on that.

"You've done this before, haven't you?" he asked me. My mood picked up.

"Yeah. You're the first guy to ask me that actually!" The C-Sec officer glanced around quickly.

"Since you know all about this..." His voice dropped off at the end, making it clear he was waiting for a response.

"Ok then, gotcha," I told him. "Be ready, I'm answering them all now. Yes. Yes. No. Yes. Never. Don't own any. No. And yes." The turian frantically punched in the answers onto his omni-tool as I voiced them aloud.

"You really have memorized those," he mumbled. He typed the final answer in and then looked back up at me. "Alright, if you'll just step through this door behind me, there will be two C-Sec officers waiting to take you to headquarters."

"Thank you for speeding up my day," I said politely.

"You're one of the few humans I've met who isn't a complete jerk," the turian replied. "I'll remember that if I ever see you again." I nodded once and brushed past him out the door to the two waiting officers. _I doubt you will..._

The two turian C-Sec officers escorted me past the Captain's desk and off towards a skycar. _Well, here we go. Another half hour of sitting around doing nothing._

* * *

Kai Leng's omni-tool beeped quietly, indicating a new message. He glanced over at Echo. The six kids were several feet away having an animated discussion within their helmets, so Leng deemed it safe to look at his message. He opened the text and quickly read it. Short and to the point, it told Leng to get to Zakera Ward level 26 NOW. Leng closed and deleted the message, then approached Echo.

"Hey," he said, getting the group's attention. They all turned their heads to face him.

"What do you want?" one of them asked, projecting his voice through the helmet's speakers.

"Being hauled in only counts for you guys, right?" They all looked at one another questioningly. "Ok, I assume that's a yes. I'm going in to the wards. Call me when you guys are in." With that, Kai turned away and hurried through C-Sec security before any of the kids could say anything. He passed through without trouble thanks to his disguise and jogged down to level 26.

He had just passed the human selling ramen noodles behind a counter before he realized that he had no clue who he was looking for.

"Just perfect," he muttered to himself, scanning the crowd .

"It is, isn't it?" The sudden deep, gravelly voice next to Kai startled him, but he did his best not to show it. He looked to the side and saw a man standing next to him wearing a black cloak, his face completely hidden in shadows.

"Are you the benefactor?" Kai asked while studying the appearance of the newcomer. The cloak in particular was the only identifying feature about him, and it was especially odd since humans had stopped wearing things like that a few centuries ago. The man nodded his reply, his only sign of acknowledgement to Leng's question.

"Society," the man said. "It's perfect right now. Treasure it." He fell silent. Leng watched him closely for a few seconds before he placed the thought that had been in the back of his mind.

"Wait, you're the man from Bekenstein with the cloak," Kai exclaimed. "Two of the kids chased you on the rooftops!" The man nodded again.

"Yes. That was me." The guy liked to give short answers apparently, as there was no further explanation for his actions.

"Why'd you interrupt our operation?" Kai asked.

"You weren't looking for the right thing. Anderson is part of the solution, but he is not the whole." The man looked directly at Kai. "I have the whole."

"So give it to me so we can retrieve your substance."

"No," the man said simply.

"Give me what you have," Kai demanded. "Don't you want your substance back?"

"I do. But it's not as important as getting to it."

"I don't understand. You're paying us to get it back, but...you don't want it back?"

"Dead Echo must find it in their own way. Their journey is more important than the destination. You must have heard that saying at least once in your life."

"You aren't making any sense."

"I know," the man said cryptically. "The reason I summoned you was to make a request. Allow the children to do the detective work on their own. Capture Anderson, but do not interfere in their other plans."

"What plans?" Kai asked in bewilderment.

"Thunder will send one of the team away. Do not interfere. That is all that I ask." Kai opened his mouth to say something more, but decided against it. It wasn't like he'd understand anything else the man was saying. Kai had begun to walk away when the mysterious person called out.

"Mr. Leng?" Kai turned back. "If you alert Dead Echo to my existence, you will be killed. Painfully." Kai's head exploded in agony, driving him to the ground, gasping for air. Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the pain vanished. Kai forced his gaze back up to the man.

"Are we at an understanding?" the man asked.

"Perfectly," Kai said, still gasping for breath, wondering what had just happened. The man began walking away, deeper into Zakera Ward. Passing onlookers were starting to stop and stare, so Kai stood up and hurried off back towards level 27. He wanted to get as far away from that crazy bastard as he could.

* * *

I sat with my hands in my lap, my back to the door. I was in an "interrogation" room at C-Sec headquarters, sitting in a chair at the end of a metal table. It wasn't officially an interrogation room, but it was close enough to it. So far, I'd spent at least twenty minutes staring at the inside of my visor. I was allowed to keep my armor and helmet, but probably only because this wasn't anything more than a talk. Although, if C-Sec knew I was only a teenager under here, then that'd make my life even worse. The great Thunder of Dead Echo, a mere 19 year old. I really needed to get a movie loaded onto my omni-tool so I could watch it at times like this, if that was even possible to do.

I heard the door open behind me and footsteps enter the room. I kept my head facing forward, not bothering to turn around because I knew they'd slowly walk in just to intimidate me. It was a typical police thing, I'd encountered it many times before.

"Well, look who's here," a voice with a British accent announced. I stiffened in my chair. _Oh no. No, please, not these guys. _A turian in blue and black armor walked past me on the left, and a blond-haired, young-looking human in a C-Sec uniform to my right. I banged my head on the table and left it there. _Of all the C-Sec officers I run into, it has to be these two. _I quickly turned on the voice changer I kept available for situations where I had to seem older than I was. When I spoke with it active, my voice dropped about an octave, turning my voice from a 19 year old one into one of an actual full-grown man. I lifted my head off the table to look at the two officers who had taken a seat on opposite sides of the table.

"Hey, it's my two favorite detectives," I exclaimed, the false exuberance just flowing out of my mouth. The blond human looked from me to the turian, a huge smile on his face.

"Aww, you hear that, Garrus? He says we're his favorite!" The turian switched his hardened gaze over to me.

"Stop playing his games, Ian," Garrus Vakarian said. "He's a criminal, he should be behind bars instead of joking around with you." I put a hand on my chest on mock offense.

"Criminal?" I asked. "I've done nothing of the sort!" Garrus suddenly rose from his chair, a talon pointed in my direction.

"We know you were behind those murders a few months ago," he said angrily. "Don't tell me you're not a criminal!" I knew he was baiting me on, but I rose to the challenge anyway. I stood as well, staring the turian down from behind my opaque helmet visor.

"You have no proof." We held each others' gaze for a few seconds before I spoke again. "You know, the first time I met you, I fully expected you to find something in your investigation that would have proved me guilty and had me thrown into prison. But you didn't. Shows what a great cop you are." Garrus' hand balled into a fist. The human officer noticed it fortunately.

"Garrus," he warned. "Keep it under control." Garrus threw a dirty glance over at the other officer, but he relented and reluctantly sat back down. I did the same, but leaned back and crossed my arms, showing that I was more relaxed.

"So, Ian Shaw," I said. "Whatever is the cause for bringing me here? Besides to have fun with Garrus." Ian let out a large sigh.

"I know you and Garrus don't get along well, but can we at least try to keep it civil?"

"Hey, I try," I said defensively. "It's Mr. Crazy over here that thinks I'm sort of murdering psycho." Garrus barked out a short, sharp laugh at that. Ok, maybe I had "taken care" of a few people on the Citadel. But there was no evidence linking Echo to the crimes, so nothing could be done. Garrus, on the other hand, just didn't seem willing to let it go. Honestly, when I first encountered Garrus, I was scared out of my mind. There I was, in front of a guy who would take a rocket to the face later on in his life, and he was trying to find a way to get us convicted. Luckily for us, he apparently hadn't hit his "badass" stage of life, and so we got off clean while he shook his fist in the air.

"Ok, ok," Ian said quickly, putting his hands out in front of him to stop me from talking. "Fine. Now, if you wouldn't mind telling us what it is exactly you're here to do..."

"Oh, is that what this is?" I said sarcastically. "You could have just asked me at customs."

"You know we have to go through procedure, Thunder. It has to be done the official way." I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Wouldn't asking me at customs be the official way?"

"Listen, Thunder," Garrus interjected. "If that even is your real name-"

"Duh, of course not," I retorted. "I use it to preserve my anonymity."

"Quiet," Garrus said threateningly. I politely obeyed. "The reason we bring you here is to get it on the cameras," he said. "You've been a suspect in too many cases, so we bring you here for-"

"I'm here to speak with an Alliance official," I interrupted, cutting the conversation short. "There should be no violence around me, like the kind that just coincidentally happens every time I'm nearby for example."

"Uh huh, sure. We'll still be keeping an eye on you all the same."

"Whatever, Garrus. You can follow me if you want, you won't find anything." There was a bit of an awkward silence where Garrus stared at me, I stared straight ahead at the wall ignoring him, and Ian just kind of looked back and forth between us.

"OK," Ian said abruptly. "Thunder, you're free to go. Garrus, I want to speak with you." I got out of my seat and headed through the door, but stopped to lean my head back inside the room.

"Hey, Ian, I've been meaning to ask you this. You seem a little young to be a C-Sec detective, how old are you?" Ian looked at me like he was confused that I was even asking about that, but he answered me.

"I'm 19. Why, are you planning to ask me out on a date?" Oh, that Ian, never misses a beat.

"Funny," I said sarcastically. "No, I was just curious. 19 though, that's a good age. A lot of people underestimate younger aged adults. Keep that in mind, it may prove useful to you one day." With that, I left the room and made my way out of C-Sec headquarters. Garrus stared at the empty space I left.

"I hate that guy," he said.

Ian turned to look at him after Thunder left the room, eyebrow raised. "Yeah, I think all of us managed to pick up on that during our little chat. I know you don't like him, Garrus, but as much as I'd like to hit him, it's not going to help."

"Still, I don't think we should just be letting him go like this," the turian muttered. "We both know he killed those people a few months ago. They weren't exactly upstanding members of the community, but..."

"But murder's murder. I know," Ian nodded. "Look, it pisses me off too how he can just waltz out of here without a care in the world like that. He's bloody rude, too. Kept interrupting us. We can't arrest him for that, though, can we?"

Garrus chuckled slightly. "If we arrested everyone who was rude to us in questioning, the jails would be overflowing. If he annoys you, though, why do you stand up for him?"

"Oh, believe me, it's not for his sake," the human laughed. "Thunder's good at covering his tracks, I'll give him that, but everyone messes up eventually. I'd like to be around to see it happen when it does, and being taken off his case through a complaint about violence isn't going to get that done." Garrus looked thoughtful for a second, then nodded his agreement. "I still have no idea why he calls himself Thunder, though. Bit of an odd alias."

"Says the person who calls himself Carmichael undercover."

"At least it's a real name!" Ian protested. "You know anyone who's real name is Thunder?"

"I don't know anyone who's real name is Carmichael," Garrus pointed out.

"Then we need to get you out more," the human detective sighed. "What are we going to do about him, anyway? He did say he was just coming in to talk, that it wouldn't mean anything."

Garrus shook his head derisively. "He's not going to say that following him is going to give up good information, is he? We should tail him, see exactly what Alliance official he's talking to. If the official even exists."

Ian looked at his partner for a few seconds, then broke into a slight grin. "Sure, that works for me. There's not any cases we need to get on apart from this, are there?" Garrus just shook his head. "Alright then, let's see what Thunder's really up to. But keep it subtle, yeah? We don't want to spook him."

"You know me," Garrus said, heading towards the interrogation room door and checking his pistol in its holster. "Subtlety is my specialty."

Ian just shook his head, smiling a bit, then set off after the turian.

* * *

I stepped out of C-Sec headquarters onto the Presidium with a sigh of relief. The cops had once again failed to arrest me, and Garrus didn't kill me. I hated having to be such a jerk to the guy, but he refused to be nice. He saw the world in black and white morality, the same way I used to. After a while, the difference between good and evil blends together until you almost can't tell the difference sometimes. At least, it does in this line of work. I watched a skycar fly past me and head towards the ambassador offices.

I couldn't quite figure out Garrus' partner though. I never remembered Garrus mentioning a partner when he talked about his C-Sec days in the game, but he has one now. Mr. Ian...he seems the nicer of the pair, but it could just be due to him being a younger age, the same as me. I can relate more easily to him. He won't ever find out that little piece of information if I could avoid it though. I opened a comm channel with Jake.

"Hey, hope you're not busy," I said.

"Huh? Wha-oh! It's you! Sorry, no, just standing around."

"Okey-dokey. Well, C-Sec took longer than usual, sorry about that. And guess who showed up to talk?"

"Oh, those two?" Jake asked. "Really?"

"Yup," I said, almost laughing at his reaction. "I'm afraid that by the time Garrus joins Shepard's crew, along with us if everything goes to plan, he'll shoot us on sight."

"That would be bad."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that Ian and Garrus are going to follow me, so I don't think I should meet up with you guys." Alex's voice cut into the conversation at this point.

"Well, shewt," he said, imitating a redneck voice. "That done messes things right up."

"Umm...ok then," I said. "Sure. Like I was saying, since they'll be following me, I shouldn't be involved with hunting down Anderson and the inevitable torture. A man like that won't give up his secrets so easily, but it has to be done. So, I'm thinking I act like I'm going somewhere or doing something, maybe try to shake C-Sec, while you guys handle Anderson with Leng."

"Sounds like a plan," Jake agreed.

"Where is Leng?" I asked. "I wanna run this by him, not to mention make sure he's ok with having some of our team sent off to Tuchanka."

"He's...unavailable right now. He went through security without us, don't know why. Don't care either."

"Hmm...odd. He just up and left?"

"Yeah," Jake replied. "Seemed like he was in a hurry too." I thought about it for a second before I brushed past the issue.

"Oh well, doesn't matter. I want to get a couple of us to Tuchanka ASAP though, so you guys go find him while I go see if I can lead Ian and Garrus on a merry chase."

"Good luck with that. I'm gonna go find Leng, so I'll talk to ya later-speak of the devil. Here he is." I glanced back towards C-Sec headquarters and then started walking off, away from the entrance. I probably looked a little suspicious just standing there.

"Here, I'm putting him on," Jake told me. Kai Leng's voice came in through the radio.

"Thunder," he said simply, acknowledging me.

"Leng," I replied. "Where'd you run off to?"

"I...had to go to the bathroom." _Wow. If that isn't the most suspicious excuse I've heard, I don't know what is._

"Alright. Don't tell me what you went off to do. Listen, I went to get a couple of our guys to Tuchanka now, investigate that turian. That ok with you?"

"Send one," he commanded. The tone of his voice suggested there would be no negotiation over this.

"Uhh...may I ask why you want to send a teenager to an unfriendly world by himself?"

"He's old enough to handle himself," Leng said casually.

"Oh no," I said. "You are NOT doing this. The past three days you've been going on about how we're useless and can't do the job because we're kids, and now you say we can go to Tuchanka alone because we're old enough? How stupid do you think I am?"

"Listen, if we're going to kidnap an Alliance captain, we need all the people we can get. I was going to allow two of you to go, but now that you're under C-Sec surveillance, the team's a man down. So that means I'll let one person go, and that's it." I growled quietly and shut Leng out of the conversation.

"Fine," I said, relenting. "Alex, I was going to send you with Timmy since you two are the strongest, but since Cerberus is only letting one person go, I'm choosing you."

"Wait," Alex said. "You mean I get to go to Tuchanka? Alone? With all those krogan?" I passed Delanynder's Emporium when I realized I could check to see if C-Sec really was following me. The route I had taken would have forced Ian and Garrus to be behind me, so I stopped for a moment, pretending like I was debating something, then entered the Emporium.

"Yes, Alex," I said in response as I walked over to the wall that would have blocked me from view of anybody was following me. I was in the process of lying down on the floor behind the wall when I heard Alex's reply.

"YES," he shouted. Ok, so I didn't really listen, it was more like it was forced into my eardrums. As I was lying on the floor, recieving some weird looks from the customers, I poked my head around the corner to look back the way I had come from. Sure enough, I could see Ian and Garrus pretending to be casual, leaning up against a wall while they glanced in my direction, waiting for me to leave the store. Fortunately, lying on the floor shielded me from their view, so they had no clue that I knew they were following me.

"Ok, Alex, can you avoid doing that again? Go find the usual contact, get him to take you to Tuchanka. After that, see what you can find, and we'll contact you once we're done on the Citadel." I quickly got to my feet and began walking out of the store as Alex kept jabbering on in my ear.

"I'm going to Tuchanka! Gonna meet a bunch of krogans! This'll be fun! Ok, I'll head out now and get transport there. I'll be back as soon as I can. Oh, this is so awesome! Krogans!" I shook my head as I walked down the Presidium. _I swear that kid's insane in some way. He likes violence and krogans way too much. It's like the only intelligent conversation I get from anyone around here is from TRON..._

"Jake, still there?" I asked.

"Yeah," came the reply. "Wrap it up though, the Cerberus guy is looking angry that you cut him out of the loop."

"Ok, got it. I'm going to take care of C-Sec, you find Anderson and kidnap him."

"Are we really going to do that? We have to kidnap him?"

"I know," I said dejectedly. "But we have to. We can't just walk up and ask him where he took the thing Cerberus wants back. So the way I see it, and Kai Leng too probably, we have to kidnap and interrogate him. It'll all work out though."

"I hope so," Jake commented. "I don't want to hurt someone we haven't been paid to hurt or kill, that isn't what we do normally." My mind flashed back to the injured turian I shot dead in the Devlon Industries building.

"Yeah," I muttered. "Normally..."

"Ah, gotta go. Talk to you later." The link between Jake and I closed, and I stopped walking as I thought back on that one moment. _Maybe I am becoming a heartless killer...now's not the time to think about that. I need to distract myself. _I opened a communication channel with TRON.

"TRON, is it possible for you to interfere with C-Sec's systems? Maybe send out a false alert or two?"

[Affirmative. Planning to have fun with your pursuers, are you?] I smiled inside my helmet.

"Maybe..."

**Author's Note: In my opinion, this wasn't a very interesting chapter to write, which is probably why I didn't get it out when I wanted to. What I really wanted to do was write the next section, so that should be out sooner than this one. I debated about adding the next events into this chapter, but that would have made it too long for release, so you get it in the next one. It occured to me that so far, I've only had one real example of how elite Echo is as a merc team, so I'm getting some combat in next chapter. That whole note was about the next chapter, whoops. Oh yeah, also Ian Shaw belongs to iNf3ctioNZ, from his story Masses to Masses. Just in case you've missed it, go read it, I highly recommend it. FORGOT THIS: Over 100 reviews, thank you, thank you very much, especially to those of you who have been reading from the very beginning.**


	13. Preparing for Retrieval

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, but it's a little longer than usual, so that makes up for it. To anybody who doesn't know yet, I try to get a chapter out every weekend. That is all.**

Alex stepped off the shuttle that dropped him off at the landing pad of a settlement. He took a deep breath, inhaling the Tuchanka air through his helmet filters. _Ah...smells like destruction. Best smell in the world. _He turned around to face the man standing in the doorway of the shuttle.

"Thanks for the ride, Steven," Alex said.

"Hey, no problem," came the joking reply. "Steven Heck's always ready to help a member of Dead Echo out. If you get into any fights, call me. I want in on a piece of that action!"

"Ha ha ha, ok, Steven. See you in a bit." With that, the man walked back inside the small shuttle and took off, soaring into the sky. Alex surveyed his surroundings after watching the shuttle leave. The planet really was a wreck, bombed out buildings and ruins everywhere. It was definitely Alex's kind of place. The color scheme involved a lot of brown and tan too, which was both easy and hard on the eyes at the same time. Alex noticed two armored krogan walking over to him from the entrance to the settlement, one in red armor, the other in tan. _Oh boy, krogan! These guys are the coolest!_

"Human," the tan armored krogan called out. "What business do you have here at clan Rak?" Alex quickly brought his excitement to a more manageable level. It wouldn't be smart to act like a giddy schoolgirl in front of these hardened warriors.

"Hello there," Alex announced. "I'm here looking for a particular turian. You wouldn't happen to have seen him, would you?" The two krogan guards looked at each other in confusion.

"There are no turians on Tuchanka," the red krogan said. "If there were, they'd be ripped to pieces." The krogan exchanged a quick glance. To Alex, it almost looked suspicious. The happiness of encountering krogan was replaced with adrenaline. He could sense something was going to happen.

"Human, we will take you to the clan leader," Tan said. "He will be able to help you track down the person you're looking for." Alex narrowed his eyes behind his helmet.

"Ok..." he said warily. He stepped forward past the two krogan who continued to stare at them. The krogan were acting very strangely now, being cautious. Alex turned around and faced them as he walked backwards for a few steps to make sure they couldn't do anything. Unfortunately, it wasn't those two he had to worry about. A few seconds after he turned around, he was hit in the back of the head and sent sprawling to the ground.

The third krogan that came up from behind laughed, as did the other two. To any normal person, the blow would have knocked them out, but Alex had the willpower to stay awake. The first couple of moments were the hardest, but the black faded from the edges of his vision and he was fully aware again. His head hurt like hell though. As he laid on the ground figuring out what to do, the krogan started talking.

"What was he here for?"

"Looking for the turian. The batarians said anybody who showed up poking around for him was to be killed."

"So? Shoot him then." Alex heard the familar sound of a gun being drawn, so he knew he had to react now or die. Completely winging it, he quickly rolled to the side just as a shotgun blast impacted the dirt where his head was.

"Huh?" The krogan had been caught off guard by this move since they thought the human was unconscious. Alex grabbed the shotgun from his back as he rolled to his feet. The three krogan stared dumbfoundedly at the human, impressed by his reaction time.

"You're pretty good, human," Red said. "But you're on a planet full of krogan. You aren't getting out of here alive."

"Try me," Alex said. He fired his shotgun at Tan, who staggered back from the impact. The other two krogan drew their guns as Alex somersaulted to the side and hid behind a large block of concrete. He quickly opened a comm channel to Steven.

"Steven, I'm in trouble here!" Alex poked his head over his cover and almost got his head taken off by a shotgun blast.

"Jesus," Heck replied. "You haven't even been down there for more than a minute and you're already shooting up the place! Be there in a sec." Alex jumped to his feet and fired off a couple rounds, forcing the krogan to step back.

"They damn near took my head off twice," Alex yelled. "There's three of them, and they're getting a little too close to me." He fired again, bringing Tan's shields down. Alex ducked back down, but fired from around the side of the concrete block and into Tan. The krogan absorbed the shots and just kept coming, slowly marching towards Alex.

"Somehow, I knew this'd happen. Revie and me are almost there." _Revie? _Alex fired once more at Tan, and once more, the krogan just took it. _This guy eats bullets like candy! _A quick glance at the heat meter in his HUD showed Alex that his shotgun would overheat if the weapon was fired again. _Screw it. _Alex leapt to his feet, switching on his external helmet speakers.

"KROGAN," he shouted, then charged at Tan. Tan was so surprised by the human charging him down, he forgot to fire his weapon. Alex slammed into the weakened krogan guard, tackling him to the floor. His shotgun had cooled off enough by this time, so Alex placed the barrel against the krogan's face and pulled the trigger. Blood sprayed out from the point-blank impact as Tan let out a death gurgle. Alex was pretty sure there were some brain flecks in that mess too, but he didn't have time to tell.

The shuttle came in for a hard landing, slamming against the dirt floor landing pad. The hatch burst open and Steven Heck in armor ran out, firing a Revenant assault rifle on full auto. The bullets flew into Red's shields, and combined with shotgun blasts from Alex, the krogan was felled before he could decide on a target to shoot. Alex quickly scanned the area for the third krogan, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"So who'd you piss off this time?" Heck asked. Alex got up off of the krogan corpse, his own armor smeared with krogan blood.

"I asked about the turian, and then this happened. My first time going to Tuchanka, alone, I might add, and I get in a fight before I take more than ten steps."

"Oh well," Heck said with a shrug. "At least you got to fight something. And I heroically rode in to save you!"

"We're not done here," Alex announced. "I'm walking through those doors, and finding that turian. The whole place is probably on high alert or whatever because there was a third guy, but he's not here. So, if you wanna come with me..."

"Hell yeah, I'm coming with you! I don't get to do stuff like this on the Citadel!"

"You run a laundromat. A laundromat. You don't get to do anything."

"You'd be surprised..." Alex began to walk towards the camp's entrance.

"Yeah, I doubt it. Now, come on, Steve. Let's go."

"It's Steven," Heck said, jogging to catch up with Alex. "Call me Steve again, and I'll cut your throat." Alex ignored it and walked through the doors to find more than thirty krogan staring him down with guns.

"Oh crap," he said quickly. Steven ended up right next to him, same words on his lips. A krogan in the middle of the group spoke.

"Humans. You took down the guards with skill. For that, we won't shoot you."

"Like hell you won't," Alex said. "I'm not stupid."

"We won't shoot you," the krogan continued. "We'll just knock you out." The group of krogan surged in and rapidly beat Alex and Heck down to the floor. This time, Alex didn't even try to stay awake.

* * *

"So, you locate Anderson yet?" I asked Jake as I walked down Tayseri Ward, looking at all the stores as I passed them.

"Yeah," came the reply over the radio. "He's in some diplomatic restaurant."

"Oh, finally," I said with relief. "I've been wandering around for hours, my feet are killing me." Jake completely ignored my comment and kept talking.

"I'm going to try to...hold on a sec." He stopped talking, but I heard a muffled voice in the background.

"You know what?" it said. "Do it your way, and I'll do it mine. But don't come crying to me when it all goes to shit." The voice ceased, only to be replaced by Jake muttering quiet curses.

"Was that Leng?" I asked.

"Yeah," Jake sighed. "He's all in a hissy fit because we don't want to kidnap him."

"Eh, he'll deal with it. Our priority is to get a tracker on Anderson so we don't lose him again, so try to find a way to talk to him and plant a tracker. That way, it's impossible to lose him."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it."

"If you need me to, I can draw any C-Sec guys away from your position."

"Like I said, yeah, yeah, I got it."

"Alright," I said, relenting. "Now, speaking of C-Sec, I have my own problem to handle." Jake didn't even say goodbye before he just cut the link. I shrugged and continued walking. I was sure Ian and Garrus were still following me, and I figured I'd mess with their heads a little. I needed to find a way to get behind them and surprise them. _Decisions, decisions... There's gotta be some way to sneak back, maybe...this'll work._

* * *

"You remember to bring anything to eat?" Ian asked idly, staring at the shop Thunder had disappeared into.

"No," Garrus replied, not even bothering to look at his human partner, able to picture the look on his face without even having to look without needing to check. True enough, Ian turned to face him, brows furrowed and frowning.

"I assume you're joking?"

"No."

Ian sighed loudly. "Damn it, Garrus, every time! We go on a stakeout, have to follow someone around, we're supposed to take it in turns to bring the snacks. Remember last one we did? I remember your bloody Tupari, your dextro food, put them in separate bags…"

"Get off my back, Ian. We can always just stop at a shop and buy something."

"Yeah, take a break to shop while we're supposed to be following a suspect, good idea. Eating would have helped us blend in as well, make us look like people taking their lunch."

Garrus glanced at the time on his omni-tool. "Ian, it's late afternoon. Eating now would just make us look weird."

"It's a matter of principle, Garrus," Ian replied, though now smiling slightly at the bickering. "I remember for you. How would _you _like it if I left your Tupari behind?"

"I honestly wouldn't care," the turian replied innocently. The look on Ian's face suggested he wasn't buying it.

"Fuck off you wouldn't!" the human laughed. "I mean, you obviously don't care about it, that's why the fridge back at the apartment is practically overflowing with the stuff. Why you always keep a bottle at your desk. It's like a drug or something."

"Hey, I can quit anytime I want."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!"

Garrus frowned slightly, mandibles widening, as he looked back towards the shop. "You know, Thunder's taking a long time in there…"

"Don't try to switch the subject on me!" Ian continued unabated. "I had ice-cream ready to go today, mate, and you screwed me over on it."

A third voice cut into the conversation. "I hope I'm not interrupting this riveting discussion too much." The two C-Sec officers whirled around to find Thunder standing behind them, his arms crossed in what must have been satisfaction.

"Ah, shit," Ian muttered.

"I told you that you two wouldn't find anything if you followed me," Thunder said smugly. "I'm not involved in any criminal activities here today."

"And we're just supposed to believe that?" Garrus asked.

"Hey, I don't care if you believe it or not," Thunder retorted with his hands raised defensively. "Everything I'm doing here is legal, including talking to that Alliance official." A thoughtful look passed over Ian's face.

"Who is this supposed official anyway?" he asked. Thunder tilted his head to the side.

"Name's David Anderson, you can check that with the records. He does exist. Why do you ask?" Ian ignored Thunder and looked straight at Garrus.

"Thunder's not just one guy," he said hurridly. "He's the leader of that mercenary team. He's been distracting us while his men do something with this Anderson!"

"Woah, what?" Thunder exclaimed. "How did you, I mean, no, they aren't!"

"Garrus, that's proof I'm right," Ian said, gesturing to Thunder. "He's all defensive now that we've caught him in the act!" Thunder suddenly raised a hand to the side of his helmet like he was talking to someone over a radio link.

"Tron, give 'em all you got," he announced, then began walking away. Garrus put a talon on his pistol.

"Thunder, I order you to stop," he yelled. Thunder slowly turned around, noticing the proximity between Garrus' hand and his gun.

"You gonna shoot me, Garrus? Besides, you probably have more pressing business to attend to right now." Garrus frowned in confusion.

"What do you..." Garrus picked up a transmission from C-Sec HQ.

"All available units, we have multiple shots fired in Kithoi Ward," the dispatch officer said. "Any officers who are able, please respond." Garrus threw a dirty glare at Thunder.

"I know you had something to do with this!" Thunder shrugged.

"You've gotta go, I understand. Whatever you just heard is obviously more important than just following little old me around, so I'll catch you guys later." With that, Thunder melted into the passing crowds of people.

"I really, really hate that guy," Garrus muttered.

* * *

"Jake, I just had to use my C-Sec distraction. Get in, plant a tracking beacon on Anderson, and get out."

"Got it." Jake closed the radio link with Joseph and began speaking to the team. "Ok, people, we've got a short amount of time before C-Sec figures out whatever Joseph did is a false alarm, so we need someone to get in there, bug Anderson, and get out of there so we can figure out a way to extract the information. Any volunteers?" Nobody moved a muscle. Jake let out a sigh.

"Fine. I'll do it. Wait here for me." Jake turned to the entrance of the resturant and came up with a plan. Sure, the plan was mostly likely not going to work, but the tracker was the most important thing, so that had to be taken care of first. Jake took out a small tracking beacon from a pouch on his belt and removed the adhesive backing, placing it into the palm of his right hand.

Jake strolled into the resturant as a man with a purpose, making it look like he was meant to be there. He walked up to the human maître d'.

"Hi there," Jake said nonchalantly. "I have an important message for a captain David Anderson." The maître d' stepped out from around his podium and beckoned Jake forward. He pointed out Anderson, who was sitting at a table near a wall, talking with someone. Jake thanked the maître d', and then headed over to Anderson.

Jake approached from behind and slapped his hand on Anderson's back like he was a good friend, sneakily attaching the small tracking beacon to Anderson's shirt. With luck, it would go unnoticed.

"Captain Anderson," Jake exclaimed. "How are you?"

"Excuse me," Anderson said questioningly. "Do I know you?" _Guy's got an intimidating voice..._

"Of course! I served under you once, remember?" Captain Anderson frowned.

"Right," he said. "Well, if you'll excuse me for a moment..." He quickly rose out of his seat and began walking towards the front of the resturant, leaving Jake standing there attracting stares from all the patrons. It was obviously going to happen since he was in full body armor, surrounded by nicely dressed diplomats and businessmen. _Well, now I'll get thrown out. Oh well, at least I got the tracker on him. _Then the wall behind him blew up.

The debris from the explosion slammed into Jake from behind, knocking him to the floor in a daze. A small squad of black armored warriors rushed in from behind, acting like a homing missile. They zeroed in on captain Anderson and shot him with a tranquilizer, knocking him into unconsciousness instantly. As he collapsed to the floor, the ambushers picked him up and quickly dragged him back out through the gaping hole in the wall. They had their weapons pointed at random patrons, but it was pointless seeing as the citizens were too busy cowering under the tables. As they rushed out of the room, Jake caught a glimpse of their helmets. They were level 1 RIG helmets, batarian SIU.

By the time the rest of Echo managed to get inside the resturant, the batarians had escaped with Anderson. Echo cleared the room, checking to make sure there were no hostiles before going over and helping Jake up off the floor.

"Can we ever go somewhere without something blowing up?" somebody asked. Jake coughed a few times as he staggered to his feet, his head pounding.

"Doubt it," he grunted.

"How the hell did this happen?" asked Ricky. "You went in to talk to him and the wall blows up."

"I don't know," Jake said simply. "This whole job hasn't gone the way it should have. I think we have to have a talk with Leng about why everything we try to do to find this item keeps being interrupted. Call Thunder, have him meet us on the Fury."Timmy slipped underneath Jake's arm and began helping him walk back towards the ship. _I sure hope Alex is having better luck than we are..._

* * *

"Get up." Alex rolled over in his sleep. "I said, get UP!" A swift kick jolted Alex awake. He was laying on the floor of some sort of large open-air arena cluttered with blocks and pillars to use for cover, the hot sun beating down on anyone unprotected. The stands were filled with krogan that had arrived to watch the slaughtering off off-worlders. Alex struggled to get off the floor, and then helped Steven up after he was standing. The two stood facing the group of krogan in front of them.

"Humans," the center krogan announced. "You are to fight in the arena to prove your combat strength. If you can survive long enough, then you will be allowed to leave. If not, you'll be too dead to care." The krogan marched out off the arena through a metal gate that they sealed behind them. Alex checked his weapons and was surprised to find them all there. Even Heck had his pistol and Revenant. Steven looked over at Alex.

"So, how many bad guys do you think we'll get to kill?" he asked. Alex pulled out his shotgun and made sure it was in working order before looking at Heck.

"If we're lucky? All of them," he said menacingly. Heck let out a cackle at that.

"This is why I get along with you so well, Ajax," he laughed. "We're both crazy psychopaths."

"No, I'm the psychopath. You're just crazy."

"Eh, fair enough," Heck shrugged. "You ready for this?"

"Buddy, I've been waiting my whole life for something like this," Alex said. "I was born ready." One of the gates on the far side of the arena opened suddenly, allowing a stream of varren to rush in, eager for the kill. The krogan in the stands roared in approval of the beasts while Alex glanced up into the sky.

"Is that the best you've got?" he asked. Then he rushed towards the wolf-like creatures with Heck at his side, ready for killing. The first varren to leap towards Alex's throat recieved a shotgun blast to the face as compensation. Steven sprayed the beasts with bullets from his Revenant in order to keep them back as Alex swept in like a hammer. Another three varren went down in quick succession from combined fire from the two warriors.

"A bunch of annoying little flies..." Alex muttered. After putting yet another round of shotgun pellets into a varren's flank, Alex whirled around to get pounced to the floor by one of the monsters. Just as it was about to go for his neck, Steven opened fire, knocking the varren to the side and killing it. Steven ran over and pulled Alex to his feet. Alex thanked him with a nod before going back to eliminating the last couple varren. The final beast was shot dead by Alex, point-blank shotgun round to the head.

"That wasn't too bad," Steven mused.

"That was a warm-up," Alex exclaimed. "I'm just getting started!" Another gate on the far side of the arena opened, this time allowing a swarm of red colored large bugs and vorcha in. Alex recognized the bugs from playing Mass Effect 2, but he couldn't remember their names. _Don't need to know their names to kill them though._ He replaced his shotgun with his Avenger assault rifle which allowed him to kill enemies from a further distance.

Both Alex and Heck opened fire after ducking behind a couple of pillars. The vorcha were the real threat in this wave due to their ability to actually shoot, the crab looking things could easily be evaded. The fight was going well enough with Alex and Heck killing a few vorcha. Heck even managed to pull off a lucky headshot from at least thirty feet away, but that was probably just because of the sheer amount of bullets he was sending downrange. It seemed like the wave of enemies would be taken care of easily...until one of the bugs managed to sneak up behind Heck.

The beast let loose a stream of fire from its mouth, alighting Steven's legs. He failed to notice it until Alex glanced over to see how he was doing.

"Heck, your legs," Alex shouted.

"What did I tell you about calling me Steven?" Heck yelled back, still unaware of the fact that his legs were burning.

"Not the time, Steven! Your legs are on fire!" Heck, finally complying because Alex called him Steven, glanced down and saw the flames on his calves.

"Oh, crap," he screamed, collapsing to the dirt and rolling around, frantically trying to put out the fire. The little demon that had caused it was now approaching Heck, most likely with the intention of eating him. Alex quickly turned and adjusted his aim, carefully shooting the beast's legs, incapacitating it. Heck managed to put out the fire before long, and went back to mowing down anybody who came too close. He paid special attention to the bugs.

One of the bugs rounded the corner of the pillar Alex was hiding behind, forcing him to practically cut the thing in half using bullets. The monster fell to the floor, dead and glowing. Alex, recognizing the glow, diverolled away just as the giant bug exploded, flinging parts of its carapace around the arena. Alex got back up and moved to a different piece of cover, shooting at the final few vorcha. They all dropped dead within seconds. The wave was over.

"You know, this is getting a little tiring," Heck panted. Alex briefly looked at him, not even out of breath.

"I live on the fights. I could do this all day." A third gate opened in the arena, and a large group of krogan filed in. Alex even recognized a couple of them from the group that woke him up. Steven did a quick headcount of them all.

"Jeez, there are seventeen of them. What do you think we should do?" he asked Alex.

"Well, I don't know about you...but I'm going to kill them all," he replied, staring straight ahead.

"Alright," Heck exclaimed. "I like that plan! Simple, easy to remember." Alex hefted his rifle a couple times, double checking in his mind if that was the weapon he wanted to use. He kept it out and let out a slow breath, ready for the inevitable killing.

A sudden rumbling was heard and felt underneath everyone's feet. The krogan in the stands began panicking, running for the exits while the krogan in the arena turned tail and booked it towards the way they came in. _No...it can't be._

"Haha, look at the bastards run," Heck yelled.

"Steven, they aren't running because of us," Alex said slowly. "They're running because a thresher maw's on its way."

"Woah, a thresher? I've heard bad shit about those, man, VERY bad shit." Alex ignored Heck's ramblings and aimed his weapon towards the center of the arena as the shaking became more intense. Suddenly, Alex let loose a yell.

"I'm ready," he exclaimed. "How 'bout you?" The ground stopped moving. The seconds ticked by as absolutely nothing happened.

"Maybe it didn't like the sound of your voice," Heck thought aloud. The ground in the center of the arena exploded upward, like the thresher was just waiting for someone to say that. The giant beast turned its massive head towards the two fighters and roared, flinging small amounts of its acid spit around the area. Alex roared back in kind as he started running at the monster, peppering it with bullets. The thresher stopped its terror-inducing scream and prepared to fire off a stream of acid at the charging human when a huge, six-wheeled truck burst through one of the arena's walls and fired a large blast from its top-mounted cannon at the thresher.

The impact startled the thresher, causing it to burrow back underground. A hatch in the side of the vehicle opened up, and an opaque turian helmet stuck out into the sunlight.

"Get in here before it comes back," the turian shouted. Alex and Steven wasted no time in complying, sprinting for the truck and jumping inside. Once both humans were in, the turian pulled the door closed and rushed into the driver's seat. The truck was quickly backed up out of the hole in the wall, where it then spun around and zoomed off into the war-torn landscape.

Both Alex and Steven laid on the floor, panting from relief, as the turian silently drove away from whatever arena they were in. A few minutes passed before Alex sat up.

"Thanks for saving our asses," he told the driver.

"Well, when someone hears that a well-known merc group is looking for them, they don't just ignore it," came the slightly robotic reply. To a normal person, it wouldn't have been noticed, but Alex had used voice altering technology before and could recognize the sound of it.

"You're using a voice filter," he announced. The turian looked back at him, surprised.

"How'd you know that?" Alex shrugged.

"I'm...familiar with the sound of it. Who are you?" The turian sighed, but did remove the helmet. A turian without the usual fringe greeted Alex's eyes.

"You're a...woman?" Alex asked. The turian nodded.

"Name's Solara. I hope that's not a problem for you." Her sarcastic attitude took Alex by surprise.

"Uhh...no, not at all," he stammered. "Just a little surprised. I've never encountered a female turian mercenary before."

"Few have," Solara replied. "But that doesn't matter. Why were you so eager to look for me?" Alex respected her for her decision to get straight to business, he liked that.

"You were responsible for screwing up our job on Bekenstein. We were about to infiltrate the Alliance base there when you burst out the door and put the place on high alert. My team and I want to know why." Solara glanced back at Alex.

"You came all the way here for that?" she asked. Alex nodded. "Huh. Well, you're a fellow merc, so I guess I can tell you. The batarians paid me to get the access codes for some secret base." She smiled in the turian way. "And they paid well."

"Whaddya mean by batarians?" Heck asked from the back of the vehicle.

"The batarians. Literally, their government paid me to do this." Alex frowned.

"Wait, the batarian government paid you to steal information? Why'd they do that?"

"No clue," Solara said. "All they wanted was the access codes to some Alliance base on a Mt. Ishimura on Earth." Alex froze, his mind refusing to accept what he just heard.

"Did you just say Ishimura?" he asked, almost whispering.

"Are you deaf or something? Yes, I said Ishimura. Why, you know it?" Alex shook the coincidence out of his head.

"Yeah, kinda. But that's it, you were paid to do that?" Solara nodded her response.

"Huh. Ok then, guess that's it," Alex said. "You can just drop off us off...where are we?" Solara laughed.

"I know where your shuttle is, I'll take you there. Your combat prowess surprised me in that arena. Normally, no one lasts that long."

"We're the best," Heck interjected. "There was this one time, I actually-"

"Don't care," Solara said, raising her hand to silence him. A few minutes of awkward silence passed before Solara stopped the large vehicle and opened the hatch.

"Alright, there you are," she announced. Alex let Steven out of the vehicle first, then turned to Solara as he was stepping out.

"Hey," he began. "What's your contact info? My leader might have more questions for you." Solara grabbed Alex's arm and quickly typed in her information.

"There you go, Mr..."

"Ajax," Alex filled in. "Just call me Ajax."

"That's quite an interesting name. Does your leader have something similar?"

"It's a long story," Alex said, his hint that he didn't want to start talking.

"I hate long stories," Solara muttered. "You two get going. I know you're on a mission." She hopped back inside her truck and sped off into the distance. Alex watched her leave.

"Come on, Ajax," Heck called from behind him in the shuttle. "Stop acting like a lovesick bird." Alex whirled around, indignant.

"Lovesick?" he exclaimed. "The only thing I love is my guns. Certainly not any females. She just gives me this weird feeling...like I don't know if we can trust her or not."

"You can ponder the mysteries of the universe later, let's move." Alex looked back at the rapidly shrinking truck in the distance one last time before he climbed inside the shuttle.

* * *

"You LOST him?"

"Listen, it wasn't his fault," I started to say, but Kai Leng cut me off with his rage.

"No, it was yours. You put a group of god damn kids in charge of getting the information we need, and they can't even do that right! I knew I was right when I told the Illusive Man we should go with someone more experienced!"

"Leng, how were we supposed to know batarians would choose that moment to kidnap Anderson? It seems to me that every step of the way, something's gone wrong. This isn't a normal job, there is no way there are this many coincidences. Now, I want you to tell me what the hell we're going after and why everyone seems to be doing the same thing!" Leng stood in the cargo hold of the Fury, fuming, while I stared him down with the rest of Echo off to the side. Alex was due back any minute, and he said he had acquired some intel. I wanted this situation to be done and over with by the time he got here.

"Tell me, Leng!" He watched me for a few more seconds before finally relenting.

"It's a liquid sample," he began. "I don't know much else about it other than it's a virus and it has to be kept in a cold environment."

"What makes this virus so important?" I asked.

"I'm not on the research team, I don't know. That's headed up by-" Leng abruptly stopped talking.

"By who, Leng? Come on, I'm not doing this until I know why we keep getting ambushed indirectly." He stayed silent.

"Ok then," I said with a sigh, giving up. Alex chose this moment to enter the cargo hold. Everyone rushed over to greet him, and I did too after looking at Leng one more time.

"So how'd it go?" Evon asked him.

"Oh, it was great," Alex began. "I hired Steven Heck to take me there, and to keep a long story short, we fought some krogan, vorcha, and a bunch of fire-breathing bugs before we were rescued by the turian we were looking for. She, it was a girl, told me she was hired to get the access codes for some secret base on a certain Mount Ishimura." The group fell silent with that announcement. Ishimura was the ship in Dead Space that was overrun by necromorphs, and a secret base on a Mt. Ishimura...that wasn't very reassuring.

"And get this," Alex continued. "She was hired by the batarian government. Weird, huh?"

"Well," Tillman started to say. "We found out we're hunting a virus that has to be kept cold. And Anderson was captured by the batarian government."

"Hey, do you think the two are connected?" Alex asked. I thought about it for a second.

"They might be," I said. I turned my attention to Jake. "Did you get a tracking beacon on Anderson?" Jake took a second to realize his name was being called.

"Oh, yeah, I did." He didn't do anything more than answer my question.

"Ok then...will you look where he is?" Jake brought up his omni-tool to find Anderson. I sighed at his lack of common sense. You'd think he'd be able to figure out that he should do that.

"Ok," Jake announced. "He is...on Mount Ishimura. In Siberia." He looked up at me, and all of Echo looked at each other. The virus was taken by the Alliance somewhere secret and it has to be kept cold. There's a secret Alliance base on what is most likely a very cold mountain. A turian mercenary was hired by the batarians to get the access code to said secret base, and the batarians have taken Anderson, who is now in that base. It all makes perfect sense. The virus has to be on Mount Ishimura.

"Evon, set a course to Earth," I barked. "Alex, contact that turian and get those access codes. Everyone else, make yourself busy. I have to have a chat with Kai Leng here..." As everyone filed out of the room, Leng honestly looked worried. He couldn't possibly be scared of me...could he?

I walked over in front of Leng. A video window popped up on my HUD suddenly, surprising me. It had to have been TRON who did that, but it appeared to be Kai Leng in the medical bay, talking to...the Illusive Man. I listened to the whole conversation, anger slowly building. By the time it was over, I was furious.

"Leng," I demanded. He looked me in the eyes. "I know about your private conversation in the medical lab. I was informed you ran off when we were on the Citadel. You talked to this "benefactor", whoever he is. If there's anything you need to tell me..." I let the sentence drop off. Leng had to swallow a few times before he could speak, the man was truly terrified of something.

"No," he whispered. I stared at him for a few more seconds before I just walked away in disgust. The man thought he was so elite, but something or someone had him under their thumb. It wasn't my problem though, so I didn't care. Whatever issues Leng had, he'd have to take care of them himself. For now, I had a mission to prepare for. I've never infiltrated a secret military base before, this should be fun.

**Author's Note: If something doesn't quite add up, let me know. If you aren't getting it, I'll make it clear, or if there's missing info, it will either be handled later in the story, or in an Echoes. Thanks for reading, and review if you want. Steven Heck belongs to Alpha Protocol, by the way.**


	14. Mount Ishimura

**Author's Note: After much delay, I present to you, the long-awaited Dead Echo chapter! Currently clocking in at over 12,000 words of story, it's my biggest chapter yet. I wanted to get this story arc wrapped up for the next one, and make it up to you, my readers, for missing last week's update. So here ya go! Oh, I only do this when something has given me major inspiration, but after the "big red button(you can guess what that is...)" is pressed, listen to A Giant Cloud of Impending Doom in the Bulletstorm soundtrack. That's the reason I came up with the ending I did. Thank you for waiting for this extra long chapter!**

I rummaged around through the drawers in the Fury's galley. It took me a few minutes of searching before I finally found what I had been looking for.

"Ah, there you are," I exclaimed, pulling out a small bag of potato chips. I eagerly tore it open and grabbed a couple out of the bag before I set it down on the counter next to the refrigerator. I yanked the fridge door open and leaned inside, now looking for a soda. I poked around, knocking a few items to the side before locating a bottle of some weirdly named brand. It tasted pretty good though, that's all that mattered. I moved my head out of the way to close the door and was startled by Ricky leaning up against the wall, eating my potato chips.

"S' up?" he asked me nonchalantly.

"Just fine," I replied after I recovered from the slight scare. I pointed to the bag in Ricky's hand.

"You know, those are mine," I said pointedly. He glanced down at the bag, then looked back at me with a shrug. I shook my head in mock exasperation. Ever since we had met, he had been taking my food. Some things just never change.

"You talk to Alex yet?" he asked me. I popped the tab on my soda can while I shook my head.

"No, why? Did he get in touch with that new girlfriend of his?" Ricky smirked.

"Yup. And make sure you don't call her his girlfriend when he's around. Tillman's gonna have a big bruise later on." I laughed at that as Ricky continued. "Alex said the turian doesn't trust using an "open channel", so she'll meet us in Tokyo to give us the codes then."

"Huh," I said. "Well, the more the merrier, I guess. If we can get someone to replace Leng as the additional person on the team, I don't mind." Ricky bobbed his head while he shoveled my chips into his mouth. "You know how close we are to Earth?"

"Why would I know?" he mumbled around a mouthful of food. I sighed, then left the room with my soda. _Let's go see what everyone else is doing..._

* * *

"You promised we'd be paid once we were done and had your item!" The leader of the SIU forces that had easily infiltrated and taken over the Mt. Ishimura Alliance base stood facing a communications terminal, speaking with the hooded man on the screen. There were a few human hostages lined up against a nearby wall with SIU units guarding them. The leader thought it would be a good intimidation tactic.

"You will be," the man replied in his gravelly voice. "I'm just having trouble getting the funds from one of my contacts. I will have the money for you in less than 48 Earth hours."

"You better," the batarian growled. "Our government would rather we kill you, but you have supplied some interesting tech. That is the only reason this assault was permitted. If you don't pay up, we will-."

"You'll get it, commander," the man said politely. The batarian cut the link, leaving the man's screen shimmering with static. The man drew back his right sleeve, revealing a gloved hand, and underneath that, the hand and arm were encased in a type of cybernetic plating. The man tapped it once, immediately opening a door behind him. A second man entered the room, this one with a long black overcoat, his face obscured from the glaring light behind him.

"You've just put a time limit on Dead Echo," the second man stated. The first turned around to face the second.

"Yes. It matters not if Echo or the batarians recover the virus. It's a win-win scenario either way. The main objective has been completed. Status update?"

"I'll have one ready for you by the mission's completion." The first man nodded, his cue for the second to leave. The second man respectfully exited the room, leaving the first man alone with his thoughts.

* * *

I stood impatiently next to Alex on a Tokyo sidewalk in my armor, watching the crowds of people pass by. I was tapping my foot against the pavement as I leaned up against a wall, the high sun shining down on the city. Everything was so...white, it was like a futuristic version of the city in Mirror's Edge.

"When's she gonna get here?" I asked through our com system. We really needed a name for it...

"She'll get here when she gets here," he exclaimed, almost shouting in my ear. I winced from the noise.

"Sheesh, ask a simple question..." Alex glanced over at me.

"Sorry," he said. I was taken aback. Alex apologizing? "I've just been getting bugged by everyone about her."

"Well," I admitted. "It is the first girl you've met on your own."

"I don't care about that. What I do care about is that everyone won't shut up about it."

"Alright," I relented. "I won't say anything." Alex nodded his thanks, then pointed into the crowd.

"There she is," he muttered. I watched a helmeted female turian in red and blue armor quickly walk up to us. She nodded once at Ajax, acknowledging him before turning her attention to me.

"So," she began. "I've heard you wanted some access codes." I switched my external speakers on and activated the voice modifier.

"Yes. We need them for a job."

"Well, it's going to cost you." Everyone's face was obscured by our visors, making the conversation like a game of Texas hold'em poker.

"How much do you want?" I asked. "Money is no object." The turian shook her head.

"I don't want your money." I cocked my head quizzically to the side. "The batarians who hired me have yet to pay me the second half of my fee. If they haven't paid now, they aren't going to. I want in on this raid." I held up a finger while simultaneously switching to a private channel with Alex.

"You never told me she wanted to tag along," I said frantically.

"I didn't know," Alex exclaimed just as quickly. "Just go with it, we need those codes!" I switched back to talking with the turian.

"Whatever you want, ma'am," I said politely. "We just need access to that base."

"I'll meet you at your ship, Ajax," she said. "We can head out from there the moment you're ready."

"Got it," Alex said simply, and with that, the turian retreated into the crowd. I cleared my throat after she left.

"You never mentioned she would come with us," I mumbled into my microphone.

"Well, I'm sorry," Alex snapped. "I didn't know. She never told me about this." I sighed and contemplated our options. I finally settled on the only logical choice.

"We've gotta let her come with us," I said. "She has the codes to get into the base, not to mention she could be useful. Maybe she could even beat some sense into Leng, huh?" Alex forced a laugh out, a sure sign he was tense. However they had met, or whatever they had talked about had definitely made him uncomfortable. He told me countless times that love was a pointless emotion, so it's impossible for him to have feelings for someone. He'd figure it out for himself though in due time.

"Come on," I told him, motioning for him to follow me. "Let's head back and prepare." He turned and pursued me, eager to get some violence in his day.

* * *

Evon had his face covered with a rag as he spraypainted his armor in the cargo hold when I walked in the room. There were four more just like it lined up against the side of the room, except they were fully white. My jaw dropped when I saw them.

"What the hell is this?" I exclaimed. Evon stopped spraying the back of his armor and looked over at me.

"I thought it would be good if our armor was white," he explained. "Since we're going into Siberia and all."

"Oh," I said flatly. Evon nodded, then went back to covering his armor with white paint. I set to work on removing my armor, placing it on the floor piece by piece. When all the pieces were removed, I stood there in a simple plain t-shirt and light pants.

Evon glanced over at my armor and gave me a thumbs up, showing he'd get to work on it. I thanked him and left the room, off to keep myself busy. Along the way to the bridge, I passed by Kai Leng. We didn't even give each other the courtesy of looking in the other's direction. It had reached a point where unless Echo could finish what was started, he'd hate us. Not like that was much of a difference from his current mood...

I entered the bridge to find Timmy in the same attire as me, typing on one of the terminals.

"Hey, Timmy, what's up?" I asked.

"I'm working on a plan," he told me, not even looking up. "The base is most likely located inside the mountain itself, that's the only way I could see it being hidden for so long."

"Uh huh..."

"If it is inside the mountain, then there are mostly likely sensors tuned to detect aircraft, but most likely not people. We could fly in relatively close with Preytor, then go in on foot."

"Hmm...I don't know, Timmy. Siberia's not just cold, it's COLD. Even the Russians never really populated it because of that."

"It's the only completely safe way," Timmy argued, his muscles bulging under his skin as he barely moved his arms over the holographic keyboard. He and Alex had a similar build, except Alex was more of a punch down the wall guy while Timmy took down a room full of bad guys with nothing but his hands.

"Alright," I relented. "If you think it'll-" My omni-tool pinged with a message from Alex, informing me to get my armor back on. The turian had arrived apparently. I informed Timmy, then ran off to the cargo hold to retrieve my armor. We couldn't have this turian knowing we were kids now, could we?

* * *

"I didn't catch your name," Evon said to the turian as we all shuffled towards the Mantis gunship. On our approach to the Tokyo spaceport, Evon had secretly snuck down to the lower hold and flown Preytor out of the Fury, landing it in a different hangar.

"It's Solara," the turian said curtly.

"That's a nice name. I wonder, are you-"

"Not interested, flyboy." Evon hung his head in shame while everyone laughed around him. The expert pilot was shot down before he could even take off. He was always hitting on every girl we met, no matter their age as long as it was above 18. He saw himself as the ladies man ever since he got lucky that one time on Omega and got a girl to kiss him. Unfortunately, he never saw her again, but that didn't stop him from pursuing the nearest female when he could.

We all piled into the gunship's crew bay. Leng sat as far away from us as possible and kept to himself, but everyone else packed together in the small compartment. Evon sat in the pilot's seat and lifted Preytor off the ground, setting a course for the coordinates Solara had given him.

"So, Solara," Tillman began, trying to make conversation. "How'd you get wrapped up in all this?" Solara removed her helmet and put it in her lap as she tried to get more comfortable.

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean," she replied.

"I think what Necro here is trying to say," I interjected, "is that he's wondering why the batarians would hire you to do this job."

"Oh. Well, I don't quite know either. One day, they showed up on Tuchanka-"

"A turian on Tuchanka?" Ricky asked. "Isn't that a really bad idea?"

"Normally, yes," Solara agreed. "But there're a lot of people out there who don't like me, and Tuchanka is the last place they'd look for me. Besides, I get to kill krogan almost every day."

"Ha, I'm fine with that," Alex laughed.

"Anyway," Solara continued. "The batarians showed up asking me to recover the access codes to an Alliance base at a certain set of coordinates, which is where we're headed. So, I did-sorry to whoever I ran over on my way out-and gave them what they needed. They never paid me the second half of my fee though, and for that, they're the ones who'll pay."

"How much did they owe you?" Jake asked.

"Five million credits," Solara said quietly. The cabin fell silent while we contemplated that fact. I whistled to show my surprise.

"Those codes must have been really important," I mentioned. Solara shrugged.

"All I know is that they wanted them. I later heard from one of my contacts that this guy over here-" She motioned towards Alex before looking back at me. "-was looking for me. I was curious, so I checked it out and ended up saving his life in the process."

"That's pretty cool. You like the merc business?" Solara smiled in the way turians do.

"Every minute of it," she said. The conversation went on like that for a couple hours as the gunship drew closer and closer to its destination.

* * *

"Alright, we're coming up on the edge of the sensor range," Evon said to us. "I'm going to set her down here, you let me know if you need me." The gunship gently touched down and the hatch opened, the wind immediately spraying snow particles into the cabin. Leng was the first out the door in his combat armor. He dropped into the snow and sank up to his calves, but didn't say a word. The rest of Echo, along with Solara, filed out into the wilderness. Our turian companion instantly began complaining about the chill.

"This is freezing," she exclaimed. "How did you humans live like this?" I glanced back at her, already feeling the cold through my suit.

"It's simple," I said. "We didn't." The gunship sealed its hatch and lifted off, flying back the way we came. Evon wouldn't go far in this weather before setting her down to wait for us. The wind yanked at my limbs, blowing snow up onto my visor, obscuring my vision.

"God damn, it's cold," Tillman yelled over the sound of the wind. "We're in the middle of freaking nowhere freezing our asses off!"

"No," Timmy replied. "We're in the Verkhoyansk mountain range, close to the Leptev Sea freezing our asses off." Alex chuckled quietly at Timmy's use of wordplay. Timmy brought up his omni-tool and displayed a map of the area. He would have just placed it in our heads-up displays, but Leng and Solara didn't have the benefit of our "network", so to speak.

"We...are here," he said, pointing to a section of the map. "And Mt. Ishimura...is over here. About two miles out." I involuntarily shivered from the cold.

"That's a long way to walk in this weather," I said. Timmy nodded in agreement.

"Especially when the temperature doesn't rise above zero degrees Celcius," he muttered to everyone. Jake moaned in frustration.

"We don't need to know that," he shouted. I shook Timmy's shoulder to get his attention.

"We need to get moving! We can't stay here too long!" He agreed, and began forcing his way through the knee-deep snow in the direction of Mount Ishimura with us following him.

Two hours later, we were almost frozen stiff from the cold. It had reached a point where we were unable to walk any further, many of us resorting to crawling our way through the snow. Alex and myself were still standing, as was Leng, who was almost invisible in the snowstorm because of how far ahead he was. One would think Solara would be able to resist the cold, but it turns out that growing up on a very warm planet made you more susceptible to lower temperatures.

My hands and limbs were completely numb, had been almost since we got out of the gunship. Alex showed no signs of weakening, but I knew he was getting close to his limit. He felt pain, he just chose to push past it and never let it show. That was what made him such a tough guy, but nobody could survive like this. I had no idea how close we were to the mountain base, but I knew we were all close to collapsing in the snow and dying. _Stupid sensors. I am never hiking through the snow again just to get to a base ever again._

Alex suddenly fell facefirst into the snow, no warning at all. He just ran out of energy to keep going. I glanced back at the rest of the team and saw them in similar positions, unmoving. I dropped to my knees in exhaustion. I was so tired of walking. I couldn't keep going anymore upon finding everyone else in the snow. I laid down and closed my eyes. I'd just take a little rest...

* * *

Kai Leng kicked me in the gut, jolting me awake.

"Damn it, kid," he yelled. "Get up!" My thoughts were scattered, I couldn't link anything together long enough to figure out what was going on. Leng reached down and roughly hauled me to my feet.

"You can't drop out on me now," he muttered as he did so. Once I was standing, he began trying to shake the others awake.

"Whass going on?" I mumbled. Leng replied as he tried to get the turian moving.

"We've been out here too long. Hypothermia's setting in. I've gotta get you inside."

"Wha...inside?" My mind was completely unable to think clearly. Leng turned his head towards me.

"Inside the base, damn it! Now get moving!" He pointed off in a direction leading towards the top of a ridge. The storm had died down luckily, the skies were clear. It was still windy, but at least snow wasn't blocking my view. I sluggishly began moving towards the summit, curious to see what Leng meant. I climbed to the top and was greeted with a beautiful view of an ocean in front of me, the waves cresting near the icey cliffside I was standing on.

I heard a quiet humming off to my left, so I turned in that direction. A jet-black Mantis gunship zoomed past me, its thrusters kicking up a large amount of snow into my faceplate. I shielded my face out of reflex and watched the ship fly towards a large mountain on my right that was much closer than it first appeared. Still extremely groggy, I activated the zoom function on my helmet and watched the Mantis fly straight into the side of the mountain. Or so it seemed.

As the vehicle approached, a large blast door revealed itself by moving a large slab of rock out of the way. The door then opened, allowing the gunship to fly inside. As quickly as it appeared, the huge metal door closed and disguised itself as part of the mountain again. If I hadn't seen it happen, I would never have known that it was even there.

I stumbled back down the slope to where I had left Leng, Solara, and the rest of Dead Echo. Leng had gotten everyone into a sitting position at least, but they were still pretty out of it. Leng was helping Evon get up when he saw me coming, and he he quickly stood up to come talk to me.

"I almost fell off that ridge when I first walked up to it," he began. "The storm began to die down, so I waited for it to, and that's when I saw a gunship flying out of the mountain. We've found the Ishimura base."

"How we gonna get in?" I asked with some difficulty.

"I did some exploring before I came back to find you," he replied. "There's a door at the edge of the mountain. It isn't locked, but the one after that is. I can help you guys in there and wait for you to warm up, then we keep moving." I nodded, too tired to say anymore.

Leng slipped an arm underneath my shoulder and began helping me towards the door he had talked about. A couple minutes later, we were at the base of the mountain in front of an industrial sized door. Kai released his hold on me and went over to it, opening it up to reveal an empty concrete room. He helped me inside and set me up against a wall so I could support myself, then left, closing the large door behind him.

I was still tired from the journey here, so I laid down on the floor. I watched Leng bring in Solara, but fell asleep before anyone else made it inside.

* * *

I awoke from my sleep, feeling well-rested and sore from lying on the ground. The room we were gathered in was warm, at least, compared to the snow, that was nice. Kai Leng was crouched in a corner, staring at the floor, and a couple others were awake and lying on their backs, staring at the ceiling. I set up and stretched, drawing attention from the others who were awake. They all merely glanced at me however before going back to staring off into space.

"What are we doing here?" I asked abrubtly, trying to start a conversation. Kai inhaled a deep breath before letting it out slowly, then he spoke.

"We're waiting for everyone to wake up," he said, then he fell silent.

"That's it? We aren't trying to infiltrate the base?" Leng shook his head.

"You almost died out there. By the time I dragged you in here, you were completely out of it. I checked everyone's extremities once we were here. Your hands were blue. Blue. Hypothermia was already damaging your systems. You were lucky I found this place."

"Well, we're fine now," I argued. Kai shook his head.

"You may feel fine, but you have to recover. We aren't going anywhere until I think you guys are ready. I'm not risking this job by rushing ahead." I sighed, knowing he was right. It wouldn't do any good to go get ourselves killed by being reckless. I laid back down to relax and wait for the others to wake up.

A little while later, Solara twitched her arm, drawing my attention. She then bolted to her feet in a combat stance before her mind registered who she was with. Lowering her combat stance, she looked at the members of Echo, who were unfortunately identical to each other due to the white armor. Unable to figure out who was who, she deferred to Kai Leng.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"As far as I can tell, it's some sort of antechamber, maybe for bringing supplies into the base or storing them," he told her. "Technically, it's part of the base, but you can't go any farther inside without the access codes." He pointed to a keypad next to a door marked with the Alliance symbol. Solara walked over to the pad and peered at it for a few seconds.

"Yeah, this is where I'm needed," she said. "We going in now, or..." Leng shook his head quietly. Solara sat down up against one of the walls to rest. Alex, being one of the few who was awake, turned his head to face her.

"Do you have any other information besides the access codes?" he asked her. She nodded.

"I downloaded the blueprints as well. They weren't part of the contract, but I figured it wouldn't hurt at the time." Leng immediately stood up upon hearing this news and walked over to her.

"Show me," he demanded. Solara obediently brought up the base schematics on her omni-tool. I gasped in surprise.

The base was absolutely massive. We were in the middle layer, or close to it at least. The complex rose a few stories higher into the mountain, but below us, it transformed into an absurd maze of hallways and rooms, descending deep into the mountain. If we didn't have this map of the complex, we would have gotten lost for sure.

"Sweet Jesus," I whispered. Solara heard me and gave me a quizzical look, most likely not understanding the phrase, but went back to the map.

"From what I remember on the Alliance database, the really big room at the bottom-" She highlighted it, showing its size and location. It was the biggest room in the complex, it looked like it could fit the Fury inside it comfortably. Hell, it looked like it could fit two. Solara continued with her explanation.

"That room houses the reactor. If it was ever overloaded for any reason, there's a fail-safe built in to eradicate all traces of the base."

"Why is that?" Leng asked in his professional demeanor.

"This is a secret base that probably does research the public isn't meant to know about. If someone discovered its location or infiltrated it like the batarians apparently did, then the reactor could be destroyed, which would self-destruct the base, eradicating all traces of its existence."

"Damn," Alex exclaimed. "That'd be one hell of an explosion!"

"I know, right?" Solara replied excitedly. "What I wouldn't give to see this place go skyhigh...it'd take either a really big bomb, or a ton of explosives."

"Hopefully both," Alex laughed. The human and turian began their own side conversation about the various ways to blow a top-secret miltary base up while I stood up and walked over to Leng, who had sat back down in his corner.

"Hi, Kai," I said, cautiously greeting him. He glanced up at me.

"Hey, kid." I stood there awkwardly, staring at him for a few moments before finally working up the courage to speak to him.

"Listen...thanks for saving our lives out there."

"Don't be. I needed you for the job."

"Yeah, I guess you did. I'm also sorry for not really respecting you." Leng shook his head.

"Kid, I don't really care." My line of sight dropped to the floor. "If we get it done, it's done, if we don't...it doesn't matter. Either way, I'm not looking for apologies."

"I understand," I said, nodding. "I'll just leave you alone."

"Good," came the gruff reply. I walked away from him and laid back down on the floor, letting Alex's conversation wash over me.

"There was this one time I killed a man by dropping a building on his head," he boasted.

"Get out!"

"It's true!"

* * *

"Ok, Solara. Let's do this." She bent down next to the keypad and checked her omni-tool for the access codes to the base. She quickly input them, and the door quietly slid open. Leng poked his head out into the hallway on the other side of the doorway and looked both ways before waving us forward. We hurried out of the small room, rifles drawn, ready for action.

After seven hours cooped up in a tiny little room, Leng finally decided it was time to move out. None of us were back to one hundred percent, but we couldn't wait any longer. Upon consulting with Solara, we had decided the best course of action was to head to the security control center. From there, we could see what was going on in the facility and figure out our next move.

The small hallways were lit by cool blue lights, making the atmosphere seem very relaxing. With luck, we'd be in and out without ruining the decor with red bloodstains. The security center was one level above us, and required us to make our way to the closest elevator. Timmy took point, poised to silently kill anybody we came across that wasn't meant to be here. Alex watched our rear flank and was prepared to take care of anybody who attempted to ambush us.

We moved through the hallways as a single unit, everyone making sure they had someone else's back covered. Solara was a natural at it, most likely her military training coming into play. Kai Leng was used to more lone wolf stuff though, so he was checking every missed corridor and alcove for potential threats. We ignored the multiple side rooms that lined the hallways since we didn't need to go inside them.

A few uneventful minutes passed by before we reached the elevator. We called it to our floor and piled inside the moment it arrived. The door closed quietly and we felt the lift move slowly up towards the next floor. Being squished into a close space with a human and turian we didn't know very well made everybody nervous, and the ride was spent in silence. Awkward, awkward silence.

The elevator stopped and the door opened to another empty hallway. We rushed out, checking the corners. Still nobody.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Ricky hissed. I shook my head, signifying my lack of knowledge about his question.

Several uneasy minutes passed as we hunted down the security center. The fact that the entire facility seemed to be abandoned was disturbing. _I hope it's not called Mount Ishimura for a reason... _

We found the security center and readied for what passed for a door breach in this day and age. Jake and Alex got ready to move in on opposite sides of the door frame. Tillman reached over and keyed the door panel, opening it. Accuracy and power jolted into action, rushing into the room only to find that, it too, was empty.

"I don't understand it," I said, walking into the room. "For such a gigantic facility, there is not a single soul here."

"It is very strange," Timmy agreed. "One would think that this place would be packed with soldiers and scientists." Leng raised his voice to be heard everyone's muttering and complaining.

"Check the cameras. We'll see if anyone's actually here." Tillman almost leaped over to the nearest terminal and began typing away.

"This encryption is so easy," he bragged. "Hacking really isn't all that hard." I opened a private conversation with all of Echo.

"Teenage hackers," I joked. "They'll end the world." Everyone chuckled at that. I switched back to speaking aloud when Tillman announced his completion. He pulled up the security videos from a couple dys ago.

Watching in triple the normal speed, we looked on as dozens of Alliance security patrols and scientists were knocked unconscious by an unseen force, collapsing to the floor. This strange epidemic began in two places, the way we had come in, and the main hangar after a shipment of supplies was offloaded a transport.

"It has to be the SIU," I told everyone. "They're the only ones who were pursuing Anderson, who had been here. It makes sense that they did this to get the virus." My team agreed with me, as did Solara. Kai stayed silent, but that was because he had already figured as much.

Tillman fast-forwarded to the current time. Checking through all the individual screens for motion took quite some time, upwards of half an hour, but we did eventually locate two things. The batarians were all clustered on the upper three levels of the facility, watching over the dozens upon dozens of Alliance men and women who worked here. Even Captain Anderson was here, though he was being pummeled into submission by two batarians in a small room filled with computer terminals.

The second thing we located was the main laboratory. In it, there were several vials and cases, but one thing managed to catch Leng's eye. He jabbed a finger at the screen, pointing at a small metal box about the size of a child's head.

"There," he exclaimed. "That's it. That's what we're here for. We grab that, then we get the hell out of here."

"What about all those hostages?" Jake asked.

"They aren't our problem."

"We can't just leave them," I shot back. "They haven't done anything!" Kai ground his teeth in frustration, making an audible sound.

"I did not come this far to screw it up now."

"We won't," I replied calmly. "We get the virus, rescue the hostages, then flee like we've got the hounds of hell chasing us." Solara leaned over to Alex.

"What're the hounds of hell?" she whispered.

"Tell you later," he told her. Leng sighed.

"I don't know, kid. This seems unnecessarily risky."

"Leng, I'm not going to leave this people at the mercy of the batarians." He pondered the request for a minute or two before deciding what to do.

"Alright," he said. "Here's the plan. There're eight of us. Four of you go investigate the hostage situation while the other three go attempt to retrieve the virus. I'll stay here and give orders. Hostage team, you do not, under any circumstances, engage the enemy or do anything until I tell you. Virus team, you go down there, get what we need, and come straight back." Echo nodded as a whole, accepting the plan. Leng stared at us for a few more seconds before speaking again.

"Well?" he asked. "What are you waiting for?" Echo saluted, then as one, turned and left the security center with Solara. Once we were out of the room, Echo defaulted to me for leadership.

"Are we really not going to do anything until the virus is ours?" Ricky asked. "That's a little harsh if the Alliance guys start to be executed." I shook my head.

"If that starts happening, I want you to start shooting. I want Echo 5 and Solara with me for virus retrieval. The rest of you, go topside and check out what's going on." I turned to leave, but remembered one last thing to tell the hostage team.

"Hey, get updates from Leng on the condition of Captain Anderson. He absolutely cannot die, even if we have to sacrifice the mission for it." The hostage team confirmed my orders, then ran off in the direction of the elevator. I turned back to face Alex and Solara.

"Alright, you two are with me." I followed after the rest of Echo towards the elevator. Solara quickened her walking pace to walk next to me. I glanced up at her when she came near. Compared to me, she was at least a foot taller. Very intimidating to say the least.

"Why does that man call you kid?" she asked. _Oh yeah, she doesn't know we're kids..._

"Well...we're younger than him."

"How much younger?"

"A bit."

"How much?" _She is pushy about wanting to know, isn't she?_

"Ok, I'm 19 years old," I said simply. Solara's mandibles drooped in shock.

"You're...19?"

"Yep," I confirmed. "And Ajax here is 17." She looked back at him, the same shocked expression on her face.

"Is your team the same age?" she asked, turning back towards me. I nodded. "The great Dead Echo I've heard rumors about...are just kids?" I nodded again. Solara was stunned by this news.

"Normally, we don't tell people," Alex piped up from behind.

"I can see why," she muttered. "Do you not tell people about your names too?" We approached the elevator, and I hit the call button.

"Heh, not our real names," I said. "Some anonymity is important. I could tell you about our nicknames while we wait.

"Alright. Shoot."

"Well, I'm Thunder. I took up the moniker because it sounds cool, and I've always used the term "thunderfury" for all my account usernames, no matter what the in...extranet site is. I've done that for years. Ajax over here, his name is an old nickname from school. Then you've got Ninja, who's like a ninja-"

"What's a ninja?"

"Oh, right...how to explain...it's an ancient type of warrior. They only wore a simple black outfit that covered their bodies head to toe. They were masters of stealth and expert hand to hand fighters. They could bury themselves in the ground to avoid detection, use smoke bombs, flashbangs, anything that helped distract or divert the enemies attention away from themselves. Ninja on our team does things like this, so we call him Ninja." The elevator arrived on our floor, so we got inside and sent it down to the floor the virus was on, at least 40 levels below.

"Ghost is named Ghost because of his sneaking abilities," I continued. "He's an expert sniper and stealth guy, able to take a person's life from a long way away. Then there's Ricardo, who's named after an old human television show character, Ricky Ricardo. Flynn is because he can fly well, and because of a little inside joke between Ajax and I." I turned to face him.

"In like Flynn, right?"

"Hah, yeah," he replied. Turning back to Solara, I continued explaining.

Last, but not least, is Necro. He likes...dead things." _Wow, I finished that pathetically._

"That's very interesting," Solara said. "You humans have an odd way of naming things..." The lift stopped at its destination, cutting the conversation short. The door opened to another empty hallway. Ajax and I stepped out of the elevator, weapons drawn, when we realized Solara had yet to come out. We both turned around to face her.

"Aren't you coming?" Alex asked. She shook her head.

"Sorry, boys, you're on your own. I'm checking out that reactor. If I can get it rigged to blow..." She left the comment open for interpretation.

"Good idea," I told her. "The two of us'll work on the virus, and we'll meet up with you later." She reached forward and hit a button on the pad, causing the elevator to descend to the bottom floor of the Ishimura base. We stared after it for a few seconds before heading off to find the main lab where the virus was being kept.

"She's a funny character," I absently stated.

"I like her," Alex said. "She knows how to make stuff explode."

"Ah, the way to Alex's heart," I joked. "Teach him new ways to blow stuff up."

"Hey, I don't like her like that..."

"I know," I said, waving my hand at him. "I'm just teasing. Come on, we've got a virus to find."

* * *

"Ninja, up ahead." Necro's warning was a good one. There was a batarian with his back to the group patrolling the hallway. Ninja crept up behind him and readied himself for whatever move he was going to make. He settled for the quick and clean.

Ninja jumped forward, putting his arm around the batarian's neck and wrenched upwards. His neck made a nice popping sound, and the guard went limp instantly. Ninja quietly lowered the body to the ground and continued onward. The group had concluded, with help from Leng in the security center, that the Alliance personnel were being held in the central hangar, which was quite large according to the blueprints. It was the hostage team's mission to poke their head inside for a quick look, then wait for the go ahead.

Ricardo opened yet another random door along the corridor to find a room with a few computers inside.

"What is it with this place?" he asked. "Who could possibly need this many computers?" The rest of the team shrugged and moved on, heading for the hangar.

A few more minutes of quietly sneaking around the corridors of the base, and the team found an entrance to the hangar that was unguarded. The only ways in were on the ground floor, so the hostage team would have to hope there was no one waiting on the other side. Ninja stacked up with Ghost next to the door, ready for action. Necro hit the door panel, and the team rushed through the door.

Fortunately, the area was darkened, and the batarians were on the other side of the large open room guarding their captives. Ninja set out to find access to the walkways on the upper area of the hangar to do some recon from a safe position. He spotted a ladder leading to the walkways about ten meters to his left. He pointed the access route out to his teammates, who began to move through the shadows to get there.

Crouching behind a conviently placed box that protected all four of them from view, the team kneeled closer to each other, a reflex movement for speaking. They were about to begin discussing their plans when several batarians materialized from thin air around them, shutting off their cloaking fields. The elite soldiers had rifles aimed squarely at Echo.

No words were required, Echo dropped their weapons as fast as they could, and the batarians moved in. Within seconds, the hostage team was bound and on the floor, being dragged away.

"Is it possible for anything to go right on this mission?" Ghost asked sarcastically.

"There could be zombies," Necro joked. "Everything's better with zombies." Ninja rolled his eyes, wondering how it was possible for Necro to be so immature.

* * *

"A double button security door. What is this place, Umbrella headquarters? Who uses double button doors anymore?" Alex glanced over at me.

"Let's just hit the button."

"Heh. Right..." I placed my hand on one of the buttons located on the side of a door, and Alex put his hand on the other.

"Ready?" I asked him. "1...2...3!" We both hit our buttons at the same time, and the door to the lab slid open. I cautiously stepped inside, prepared to react to any darts fired from the wall or the release of poison gas. Alex just brushed past me. No death traps burst out of the vents, so I relaxed and followed him inside.

The laboratory was like a larger version of the tech lab on the SR-2. There were vials of liquid around the room, microscopes, computers, and other scientific machines I had never seen before.

"I wonder what all this was used for," I mused.

"Doesn't matter," Alex said. "All we came for was the thing over here." I stopped looking at the various objects around the room and turned to face him. He was standing in front of the box we had seen on the security camera. It seemed larger on the monitor, in real life, it looked to be about the size of a man's heart. I think.

"We did all this work for this?" I asked. "A tiny box? This is so anti-climactic..." Alex shrugged, but reached forward to grab the container. Suddenly, a batarian appeared out of nowhere on his left, the all too familar sound of a cloaking field being deactivated.

"The fu-" Alex began to say, but was cut off by the electricity now coursing through his body, courtesy of a shock baton. He collapsed to the floor an a heap, and the batarian stepped over his body, advancing towards me.

"Can't we talk this over?" I asked, knowing what was coming. The SIU member didn't even give me a response, just tapped me with the baton on the shoulder. I was out like a light before I even hit the floor.

* * *

A punch to the face snapped me out of my sleep. The gloved hand actually connected with my cheek, which took me a moment to realize the implications of that. _The SIU had taken off my helmet. Oh God...they know what I look like. _The guard in front of me decked me again, splitting my lip open and splattering a light amount of blood onto the floor. I briefly analyzed my surroundings while I winced in pain.

I was in what looked like the same room Anderson was being beaten in, but he was nowhere to be seen. The lighting in the room was a stark white contrast to the cool blue that had been used in the rest of the facility.

A third punch knocked my head to the side, where I caught a glimpse of two of my friends tied up in chairs like I was. Before I could get hit again, I looked to the left and saw two of the guys sent to investigate the hostage situation, meaning we were all captured. I took another blow to the side of my face, this one knocking spittle out of my mouth.

"Stop doing that," I screamed. I recieved yet another punch, this one in my stomach. I bent over wheezing. I looked up into the face of the batarian who had hit me, and he looked quite pleased with himself. _He got me to shut up, that's for sure._

The batarian raised his hand again to strike me, and I tried in vain to move away. A deep voice suddenly rang out from behind the batarian.

"Leave him." The guard in front of me paused to glance behind him, then lowered his hand.

"As you wish, Aren," the guard said. He stepped to the side, revealing another SIU member. The second batarian was obviously a higher rank then whoever was knocking me around, but was dressed in the armor typically worn by SIU agents. The second slowly walked forward until he was right in front of me, forcing me to look upwards to see his face. He stared me down for a few seconds before speaking.

"Thunder of Dead Echo," he began. He began circling around the group of captive humans in front of him. "You've caused quite a bit of trouble for us over the past couple of years." I frowned in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" The batarian circled back to me quickly and visciously backhanded me across the face. As I was recovering from the sting of his armored glove, he grabbed my face and forced me to look at him.

"Your escape on Icarus station," he yelled. "That business on Cectraaft a year ago, those were our operations!"

"Wait, you guys were on Cectraaft?" I asked, bewildered. The batarian violently let go of me, taking a few steps back.

"We were," he replied. "At least before you interfered. You...children." He stared at me in contempt.

"If you never captured us and held us at this Icarus station, then you wouldn't have this problem on your hands," I defiantly told him.

"He told us you wouldn't be trouble," the batarian muttered. I tried to clearly make out what he was saying, but he must have caught on, for he suddenly motioned for the first batarian to come closer. The two whispered to each other for a moment while I struggled to be freed of my bonds. I imagined the others were trying to do so as well. The batarians abruptly broke apart, and the higher ranked one faced me once again.

"Now," he said. "The seven of you made a grave mistake by coming here." I sighed inwardly. _Here we go, the monologuing. Always with the-wait, he said seven. _I couldn't keep the dawning look of realization of my face. _He said seven. They don't know about Kai or Solara. Phew, ok. All we have to do is sit tight and wait for them to come to the rescue._

"Since we have you captive, I've decided to take the simple route." I tuned the batarian out. I didn't need to know about his grand plans for the universe and how the batarians would get revenge, yadda, yadda, yadda. "I'm going to shoot you." That, I did hear.

"Uhh...I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly," I began to say. "I thought you said-"

"Gun." The batarian was handed a pistol by his cohort. My face paled. _He wasn't going to shoot us now, was he? We hadn't been rescued yet!_ The batarian placed the barrel of the pistol against my forehead. The cool metal slid slightly due to the layer of perspiration that was quickly building. My heart was starting to beat faster then it ever had before. I honestly did not see a way out of this situation. I watched in terror as the batarian's finger began to squeeze on the trigger, and I closed my eyes tight.

"Aren!" A new voice rang out through the room, and the barrel of the weapon was lifted from my head. I immediately opened my eyes in relief, letting out a breath I never knew I was holding. I noticed a newcomer in the doorway, acting very agitated.

"What?" the lead batarian snarled. I suppose his name was Aren, so I'd call him that.

"Our men are under attack on the level below us," the newcomer announced.

"I thought you had cleared the complex thourghly!"

"We did! This is a turian!" Aren looked back at me, rage on his features. I stared right back at him, which wasn't the smartest thing to do. He raised his gun and pistol-whipped me across the face with blinding speed, then tossed his weapon to the first guard while I groaned in pain.

"Guard them well," Aren demanded as he stalked out of the room, "Or it is you I will eliminate!" Aren was gone before the guard could reply, the door to the rest of the base closed. I just kept my head down, unwilling to risk another physical blow to the face. I'd be covered in bruises in a couple hours, I could already feel my skin becoming tender.

There were some muffled gunshots from outside the room, but it was coming from the level below, not this one. I was just waiting for someone to rescue us now. The seconds ticked by, almost slowing down with each one that passed. After what felt like an eternity, the door finally opened.

The guard casually looked over to it, but didn't have time to do anything before Kai Leng but a bullet in his brain. I smiled weakly as Leng rushed forward and began to untie us.

"You do care," I joked, coughing a couple times. Leng roughly undid my restraints, then moved on the next Echo member in need of assistance.

"Don't kid yourself," he said. "I can't do this without you." I hobbled to my feet.

"Nor I, you," I told him. He paused to look at me, his expression unreadable for a few moments. He quickly went back to freeing the others, and I helped him out. In less than a minute, we were all free of our bonds.

"Alright, your gear's in the next room," Leng informed us. "Grab your helmets and guns, then we move forward with the plan." We ran out the door, Kai taking point of course, and went into the next room. Sure enough, all our things were spread out on a table. I started a conversation as we prepared for battle.

"What plan are you talking about?" I asked Leng.

"It's an improv I came up with," he replied. "The turian rigged a charge on the reactor, and it's ready to blow. We get a couple guys down to the virus while the rest fight off the batarians in the hangar long enough for the hostages to escape on the various transports. As soon as the virus team is near the objective, we detonate the reactor, blow up the base, and get your pilot buddy to fly us the hell outta here."

"Sounds like a good plan," Ricky remarked as he placed his shotgun on his back.

"Yeah, well, it would be if it wasn't for the fact that this mountain was formed by the Siberian Traps."

"What the hell's this mean?" Alex asked. "This doesn't matter."

"Shut up and listen, dammit! The Siberian Traps covers a large part of Siberia, it's made out of igneous rock."

"Is this really the time for a geology lesson?" I demanded.

"Shut up," Leng yelled. "I'm getting to it! To keep it simple, this mountain was made by a ton of magma. The reactor uses the ambient heat from the magma below it to power the base."

"This place is a volcano?"

"Technically, yes. If we blow the reactor, it'll destabilize the magma, causing it to start melting through the floor and build pressure. The moment the reactor goes, Mount Ishimura's going up in a huge ball of flames, so we have to work fast." I threw my hands up in the air.

"Could this day get any worse?"

"Zombies," Necro remarked. I whirled around to look at him, confused. Leng grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around to face him.

"Kid, we gotta go. Now." We ran out the door into a random hallway. Kai began running down it towards an intersection.

"This way to the hangar," he called. Dead Echo followed him, entering the hangar the same way the hostage team did a short while ago.

We walked into the room to find Aren standing on the ramp of a shuttle, shouting orders to the few men gathered in the hangar. The moment we entered though, his head snapped towards us, and he rushed inside his shuttle. It quickly took off through the open hangar bay doors. Leng set to work quickly gunning down the three surprised SIU operatives, but I couldn't stop thinking Aren. Somehow, I had the feeling we'd meet him again someday...

Leng triple-checked the dead bodies in the room, then faced the many Alliance hostages lined up against the wall who were all staring in awe.

"Listen up," he yelled. "We are the mercenary team Dead Echo, and we have come to save your pathetic asses. We know there are transports you can use to escape if we free you located in the hangar bays. We will stay here long enough to hold off the batarians. Do you understand?" The scientists all nodded frantically, but the soldiers looked apprhensive about the idea. Fortunately, Leng picked up on it.

"I said, do you UNDERSTAND?" One of the soldiers spoke up.

"If you free us, we can help you fight them off," he said. "Take back the base." Kai shook his head emphatically.

"Negative. We have orders from Captain David Anderson himself to overload the reactor once you are all clear. The Alliance cannot allow the batarians access to the information in this base."

"I though Anderson was here with us," another soldier remarked.

"Then you must be mistaken," Leng continued. "Now, I WILL free you, and you WILL evacuate this base. Is that clear?" The marines spoke as one.

"SIR, YES, SIR!" Leng nodded, then motioned for Echo to go release the captives. I moved forward next to Ajax, but Leng stopped us both.

"I want you two to get the virus," he told us quietly.

"What if we get ambushed again?" I asked.

"Then this time, you'll be ready. But we need that virus, and we're getting these people out of here." He glanced behind him at the Alliance soldiers. "I'm not leaving anyone behind." I shared a quick understanding look with Ajax, then we set off towards the elevator.

The batarians must have been regrouping for a major attack because we didn't pass a single one of them in the hallways. When we arrived at the elevator, it coincidentally opened to reveal Solara standing there, weapon in hand.

"Oh," she said. "You two. Be careful down there, I'm blowing this place the moment I get. These batarians deserve to die for betraying me." She brushed past us and traveled down the path we had just come from, heading towards the hangar bay for the fight. Ajax and I stepped inside the lift and hit the button for the floor the main laboratory was on. The doors closed and we began our descent into the Ishimura base. A few minutes later and we were at the correct floor.

We jogged our way to the lab doors where we had the double button door greet us for the second time. I quickly contacted Leng through my internal headset.

"Leng," I informed him. "We are at the virus, it's just a few feet away."

"Get those last few people out of here," he said over the sound of gunfire. "Sorry, little busy. I'll have Solara blow the reactor now. SOLARA!" I cut the radio link, and Ajax and I both hit the security buttons at the same time. The door ascended into the ceiling, allowing access to the base. I had stepped in first when the reactor detonated. The entire complex vibrated wildly, it was never designed for blast of this magnitude.

The shaking dislodged the door, causing it to fall back down to its closed position. Ajax immediately began pounding on the door and trying to lift it while I quickly grabbed the virus container. I almost dropped it upon feeling its weight, it was much heavier than it appeared to be. With the objective in hand, I ran over to the door, and then it occured to me that the blast had inadvertently sealed me inside the lab. _Oh shit, this isn't good._

I rammed my shoulder into it a couple times, but it didn't do a thing. The automatic sprinkler system suddenly activated, drenching me in water. I looked up at the ceiling.

"Oh, come on!"

* * *

Leng diverolled to the side, dodging incoming fire from an SIU member.

"Solara, right flank," he shouted. Solara stopped laying down suppressing fire on the main entryway the batarians were using and turned towards the alien coming through on the right. She gunned him down and went back to providing covering fire when she could. Leng crouched back down behind a crate he had moved into position.

So far, it was going exceedingly well. All of the Alliance hostages had managed to make it out of the base unharmed, besides a couple rifle-butts issued by the SIU. Echo had retrieved the virus and were on their way back upstairs, and the batarians had yet injure anybody.

Kai called over to one of the Echo members, requesting the evac gunship. Whoever it was did so, then informed Leng that it would be a two minute wait. _Two minutes. We can hold out that long._

* * *

"Stand back," Ajax called. I moved to the side of the door frame and crouched down, protecting my head. Ajax blew up the explosive he had placed on the door, sending the metal slab hurtling across the room. It impacted on the other side, creating a very satisfying crunch sound. I hurried out of the room.

"Where'd you get that thing?" I asked.

"This base has everything..." We double-timed it back to the elevator. Along the way, one of the panels on the wall decided to explode just as we neared it. We shielded out faces from the blast in surprise.

"We gotta move," Ajax told me. "This whole place is coming down around our ears." We continued running back to the elevator.

"You know," I panted. "I never thought I'd be running through a secret volcano base with you."

"Yeah, likewise pal. Let's just move." We made it to the lift after dodging a collapsing ceiling, jumping inside in heading for the top floor. As the doors closed, I caught a glimpse of a fireball moving through the hall. The elevator sealed itself and began moving up just as we were almost cooked alive.

"Heh, we were almost in that," I said, relieved. Ajax merely grunted. After a couple minutes of the elevator moving upwards, it decided to halt its movements for no apparent reason. I looked over at Ajax.

"Uhh, what's-" The floor jolted beneath us, going down a couple inches. Ajax and I stared at each other, horror on each other's faces.

"Go go GO," he yelled, grabbing hold of the lift doors. I did the same on the other side of the doorway and we both slowly pried them open. A few seconds of hard work was rewarded by giving us a second set of doors to open. As we were ripping those open, the elevator sank again. Ajax managed to get the doors open and quickly crawled through the space. He reached back to grab my hand as I was wriggling through behind him, and he yanked me out just as the elevator finally gave out and zoomed down the shaft.

It impacted on the bottom, exploding, but it went unnoticed past all the fire creeping up the walls. I set off running down the hall. Ajax called out to me.

"Where are you going?"

"To find some stairs," I yelled back. "We aren't at the top yet!" Consulting Solara's map pinpointed the stairs, which I ran to with Ajax behind me. I opened the door and stepped into the stairwell. Looking up, I saw the stairs stretch up dozens of floors.

"Who the hell puts the hangar up fifty flights of goddamn stairs?" Ajax asked seriously. I let out a breath to ready myself, then started running up.

When I could see the top set of stairs, Leng contacted me over the radio.

"Evac's here," he shouted. "Get moving!" I didn't have the breath to reply, but I kept running. I made it out onto the upper level with Ajax and began running towards the main hangar when I remembered something important. I quickly called Leng.

"Kai, you there?"

"Now's not the time, kid. Get a move on!"

"Do you have Anderson?"

"Who?"

"Do you have Captain Anderson?" I persisted.

"Shit! We forgot him!" I cut the link and handed Ajax the virus container.

"Here, take this to the hangar, get on Preytor," I told him. I started jogging off away from the hangar entrance.

"Where ya going?" he called.

"To find Anderson," I shouted back over my shoulder. The temperature inside the base was really heating up. I was sweating, and not just from the exercise. The sprinklers weren't doing a thing about the small randomly created fires popping up here and there, and debris from the constant shaking was constantly getting in my way.

I frantically checked room after room, not finding Anderson. I remembered he was tied up in a room similar to ours, so I had to find that. After failing to find him in over twenty rooms, I opened the door of one and found a bloodied and beaten Anderson tied up to a chair, a captive of the SIU forces. I rushed inside and unbound him.

"Who are you?" he coughed weakly.

"I'm the guy who's here to save you," I answered. He didn't reply after that. I helped him to his feet where he promptly fell back down into his chair.

"Can you walk?" I asked. He shook his head slowly. _Oh, just perfect. _I picked him up again and placed his left arm around my shoulder. Together, we began moving towards the hangar.

I made it inside just as the heat in the small corridors was becoming absolutely unbearable. The hangar, open to the cold frigid outdoors, was at least surviveable. Echo was crowded around the rear of the gunship, shooting at any batarians stupid enough to try making a run for the ship. I took a few steps toward the gunship, and then the floor started erupting around me. Panels were flung into the air as bursts of pressurized lava soared into the air.

I had to run fast, if any of that touched Anderson or I, we were dead men. Bullets I can deal with, molten rock is another story.

"Move your ass," Leng shouted from across the room, then resumed firing. I was still fifty feet away at least, and the trip wasn't getting any easier. I hurried as fast as I could past the lava spouts and batarians. One of the SIU members actually tried to shoot me, but then a pillar of lava brust through the ground and melted him, I assume. It's not like I was going to check.

I was the first one in the gunship, followed by everyone else as they provided covering fire until the last second to make sure we were all safe and away. I strapped Anderson into one of the seats, and he coughed weakly a couple times. The man needed medical attention fast, otherwise he might die from his injuries. Ricardo leaned forward towards Flynn in the pilot seat.

"Punch it," he screamed.

"Already ahead of you," Flynn replied evenly. Preytor lifted off the ground, thrusters wildly attempting to find a balance for the ship as explosions went off it all around. Preytor slowly cleared the hangar doors, but the moment it did so, it accelerated to full speed and rocketed away.

A couple moments later, and I heard a massive blast go off. The dormant volcano and explosively become active again, vaporizing the Ishimura base. Anything not decimated in the blast would be melted by the resulting lava flows and fires. I leaned back in my seat to relax, finally done with this disaster of a mission. A few minutes later, I was fast asleep.

* * *

We all stood assembled in the cargo bay of the Fury, Solara and Leng included.

"So, where will you be off to, Solara?" Jake asked.

"I'm going back to Tuchanka," she replied. "It's my house and home."

"Well, Solara," I announced. "It was fun blowing up volcanoes with you. We should do it again sometime. Maybe you and Ajax here can blow up something even bigger." She smiled.

"Well, you never know." Solara said her farewells and left the Fury, heading off to her destination. Kai Leng was still here, virus container in hand, impatient to leave. I turned to face him.

"So, Leng," I began. "We finally did it."

"Heh, yeah," he replied. "I've finally got it." I shook his head with a light smile on his face. "You know, for kids, you aren't actually all that bad."

"See? I told you so."

"And I should have listened," he admitted. "I just couldn't believe that a bunch of kids would end up being better than I am on occasion. I have been at this a lot longer than you."

"And that's why we never tell anyone our identities," Alex said. "We avoid that problem if people think we're adults."

"That you do... Well, kids, I'm off. I've got to deliver this to the Illusive Man."

"Make sure he pays us," Tillman joked.

"Will do," Leng said with an honest smile. "If I need you again, I'll look you up on Omega. See ya around." Kai Leng waved once to us, and then left the cargo hold, and off the Fury altogether. The moment he was gone, we all began gossiping.

"Well, that was fun."

"Are you kidding? I'm never doing anything like that agin if I can avoid it!"

"Toughen up. That was nothing."

"Says the guy who had to have a female turian rescue him from a bug."

"Hey!" We laughed for a good, long while, finally able to relax.

* * *

"I trust you can resume your experiments immediately?" The hooded man nodded politely.

"Of course, Illusive Man," he said. "Now that I have the virus, work can continue." TIM blew smoke out of his mouth, snuffing out the cigarette he had been smoking.

"See to it that it does. This time, keep the location of the base a secret as well." The hooded man bowed slightly, then left the inner sanctum of Jack Harper. TIM sighed and looked at a report filed by Kai Leng. Along with the usual content, it also had a special item added to it. Seven special items. The DNA of each Dead Echo team member. Jack Harper smiled. This could be very useful...

The hooded man walked down a hallway on the Illusive Man's station, heading towards his ship. As he walked, he opened his omni-tool and made a call. The person on the other end answered immediately.

"I trust you have retrieved the virus?"

"Of course, Albert," the hooded man said as he walked. "I had no doubts about Dead Echo. Do you have that status update I requested a few days ago?"

"Yes sir. Payment to the batarians have been made, payment to the Alliance for the loss of the Ishimura base are in preparation, and all projects are on schedule."

"Can I get specifics on the top three priorities?"

"Project Malikov is awaiting your return, Project Kessler is ready for human testing, and Project Carnival is almost ready for a test subject."

"Good. I want Project Kessler in top priority when I get back. Also, you'll be pleased to know that I am aware many smaller projects have advanced past your projections, and that Project Redfield is nearing completion."

"...Yes."

"This is excellent news, Wesker. You should be happy for once." The hooded man closed the communications link and continued walking towards his ship. It was a simple matter for the man to wipe the cameras of their memory as walked past them. His conversation was a complete and total secret.

**Author's Note: Chapters won't always be this long of course, this is just because it's the finale. I wanted this to be a very good chapter, and I'm hoping it turns out to be that. Thank you for reading this far, I know you might have goten bored...wait, what am I saying? Of course you haven't gotten bored, there's conspiracies and explosions!**


	15. A new assignment

**Author's Note: Here we go, the next chapter. Sorry for not getting it out on the weekend, but I got lazy...**

Phone Date: December 14th, 2015

I extricated myself from the crashed shuttle, the small fires of the wreckage licking at the edges of my armor. I staggered to my feet, dazed, but certainly not confused. I confirmed that my level 5 RIG helmet was working by rebooting the HUD. I immediately saw six blinking orange lights at the edges of the display.

Turning around, the motionless forms of my comrades were scattered around me in the dirt, their vital signs in poor but stable conditions. _Of course I'm the only one awake. Why does it always work out that way? It probably would have been better if I just passed out. _I took a quick glance around the area to find out where I was.

I could see snow-capped mountains off in the distance, and above me on a plateau, was the castle-like estate, a light layer of snow covering it and the ground. I sighed when I looked at it. _Stupid pseudo-castles. I hate this week. _I coughed a couple of times, wincing in the sudden pain brought on by the severe injuries I had sustained earlier in the week. I was still sore, but I would have been surprised if I wasn't. Being stuck in a medical bay for four days beforehand certainly didn't help me prepare for situations like this.

I took a few steps away from my friends towards the castle, knowing I had to find someone, anyone, even if it was a SRPA agent. My options were limited to die out here in the burning wreckage of our shuttle, or go find a SRPA agent, and die inside the castle. I composed myself, gathering the courage to face what I knew was coming.

I straightened up and stepped forth, crossing the flat area before me towards the path to the castle. I managed to get a few feet before I caught a sniper round in my right shoulder. The impact tore straight through my armor and flesh, bypassing my shields. I screamed out in pain, dropping to my knees. As I clutched my injured shoulder, I looked up towards the ridge in front of me.

A man dressed in a black overcoat stepped out from behind the large boulder on the top of the ridge, his sunglasses reflecting what little light there was. Assembling behind him were scores of SRPA agents, all dressed in their typical uniforms of futuristic gas mask helmets and silver heavy armor. Every single one of them was armed with a stun baton, sparks of electricity jumping off the tips. Obviously, their intention was to take me alive, and probably my friends too.

Adrenaline flooded my body, all pain from the bullet forgotten. The armor's automatic application of medi-gel probably didn't hurt either. I stood back up, ready for one last struggle before they brought me down. Whatever they intended for us, I wasn't going quietly, that's for sure.

The SRPA agents charged down the pathway towards me, ready to beat me into submission. All they needed was one good strike against me and I was out of the fight, while in order for me to win, I had to take out at least fifty men. While injured. This was going to be fun.

The fastest man reached me first. He wildly tried to tap me with his baton, but I dodged past him and jogged towards the main force. A man in front of me attempted to bring his baton down in an overhead blow, but as his arms were descending, I grabbed them and redirected the weapon into his gut, sending however many volts the baton was packing into his body. He collapsed, unconscious.

I was surprised from behind as a SRPA agent bear-hugged me, giving another agent an opportunity to hit me. Fortunately, I had a smaller build than the full-grown men I was fighting against, so I managed to slip out of the ambusher's grip. It was too late for his partner to stop swinging the baton, so the weapon accidentally stunned the SRPA agent. I looked behind me to view my handiwork and saw a baton being slashed horizontally towards my chest.

With no time for thought, I simply reacted by ducking as low as I could. The baton flew over my head with only a couple inches to spare. I brought myself to my full height and kicked the attacker away from me, creating some space. The enemies gathered in force, ready to bring me down. I knew if I was going down, I might as well go down with style.

Jerking my arms towards the floor, I deployed Tillman's newest modification to Echo's armor: the dual hidden blades from the Assassin's Creed series back home, just sharper and more deadly. The sight of weapons on my personage halted the SRPA men, at least for a split second. I utilized that advantage to the fullest.

I leaped forward, forcing the blades into the necks of the two nearest attackers. They cried out in pain, grabbing at the blood flowing out of the wounds as if they could keep it from leaving their bodies. The blades were a little hard to puncture the tough armor these men wore, but I figured I could take out at least one more before their numbers overwhelmed me.

I turned around to see if there was anyone else in close range I could easily stab and was greeted-more like ambushed-by a screaming girl right in front of me. I stumbled backwards in shock. _Why do you always show up at the worst moments?_

One of the SRPA agents finally struck me across the back with his stun baton. I could feel the electricity coursing through my system, overloading every nerve with pain. I managed to think of one final thought before my body shut down. _Worst birthday ever._

* * *

Present date: December 9th, 2182

"Project Kessler's ready."

The hooded man whirled around in surprise, closing the private files he had open. No one was ever allowed in his sanctum unannounced unless it involved good news...and this was fantastic.

"You're sure?" he confirmed. The man's second in command, Albert Wesker, nodded. "Two years ahead of schedule?" Wesker nodded quietly again. The hooded man contemplated dozens of scenarios in his head, discarding them just as fast as he came up with them. Eventually, he settled on one option.

"Continue with the plan."

"Are you sure?" Wesker inquired. "You told me yourself that the gene is unable to be activated until the subject is well into adulthood."

"Then think of this as a...field test. If it doesn't fire, then we just wait until he's matured more. If it does fire, then we know the Project works."

"What if it fires, but nothing manifests?" The hooded man paused. That scenario had not been considered.

"Then we'll handle that situation if it occurs," he told Wesker. "For now, get the Sphere ready, and have a team in New York City ready for retrieval. I'll make the call."

Albert bowed his head slightly and left the room. The hooded man went back to his terminal, thinking about how helpful Albert had been over the years. The man pulled up the most recent test results for Project Redfield. The serum was being formed now, if the results were to be believed.

It should be tested more thoroughly, the risk of it having an adverse effect was strong. The man closed the report and linked it to Wesker. He would leave the decision up to Albert. It wasn't his choice, it was Wesker's. Knowing Wesker though, he'd inject himself without a second thought. He'd do anything to acquire more power.

The man turned his attention to his terminal and created a to-do list. Moving to the first thing he planned, he called his main contact in the Alliance navy.

"Lieutenant Commander," the man began, greeting his contact. "How are you, Mael?"

"You can skip the pleasantries," came the reply. "You don't contact me without good reason."

"Very well, Lieutenant," the man responded. "We'll get straight to business. Project Kessler is ready for a field test two years early. I need you to accomplish the tasks I gave you."

"They will be done. I'll have everything ready, just make sure you get your man out before the military rolls in. I can only stall my superiors for so long." The man disconnected the call, not bothering with a farewell. He continued on down his list, working to acheive his goals. Decades of work finally coming to a head, years of planning finally seeing success. Nothing could stop him. Not even Dead Echo.

* * *

Present day

"Hold it steady."

"I'm trying."

"Hold it steady!"

"You keep moving it!"

I was in the Fury's maintenance bay with Tillman, working on finishing his newest idea. In hindsight, we should have thought up of it earlier. These dual assassin blades from Assassin's Creed could have helped us so much in the past. Just a month ago or so, we had an assassination mission where we had to get up close and personal. We found out that breaking someone's neck in public isn't really the smartest move. With the blades, we could have just gone all Ezio on his ass and just walked away, but noooo. WE had to do this massive foot chase to escape from the police. Being a private mercenary is hard work sometimes.

Currently, I was trying to hold one of the extendable blades flat on the table without moving it as Tillman used a maintenence cutter to sharpen the edges of it. It was much harder than it sounds, Tillman needed the blade to not move in order to cut carefully through it, but his cutter kept sliding the tip of it around. I was holding onto it by the base of the weapon since I didn't want to get my fingers sliced off by accident. That would be bad.

"Listen," Tillman snarled. "Either hold it steady, or just go away!"

"I'm sorry," I exclaimed. "But you keep moving it around!" Tillman sighed and snatched the blade off the table, slapping it down away from me.

"Like this," he said patiently. He demonstrated the "correct" way to hold the blade. He held the sharp object down and proceeded to cut away the edge, his hand less than half an inch away from the small laser beam. In just a few seconds, he had the blade sharpened to an almost dangerous level. Tillman turned to me and held up the blade.

"See?" I shook my head.

"Nope. You're not getting me to put my hand that close to a cutter. No way, no how." Tillman shrugged in response.

"Suit yourself," he said. "I've still got a few more to do, then I have to attach them, then make sure they're working..."

The small communicator I had in my ear buzzed, signaling an incoming message. Whenever Echo wasn't armored up, we just kept a small Bluetooth-like communicator in our ear, just in case someone needed to contact us. Like now, for instance. I tapped the device, answering the call.

"Hello?" I inquired.

"Joe!" The loud shout made me wince from the pain it sent through my eardrum.

"What is it, Jake?" I asked, exasperated.

"Dude, you gotta get down to Afterlife! You should see Ricky, he's just downing these drinks like nobody's business!"

"Alright," I laughed. "I need a break anyway. See you in a few." Ending the call, I turned to Tillman. "Hey, the guys are partying in Afterlife, wanna come?" I asked. He glanced over at the dozen blades he still had to sharpen.

"Damn. I really want to go, but I've gotta get this done. How long are you guys going to be there?"

"Hey, just show up when you can," I told him. "I'll call you if we end up leaving." I left the room, heading towards the elevator to go back to the normal deck. I had to go grab my gear from the armory, we never went outside the ship without it anymore. It protected us, both our identities and our bodies. No one knew who we were anymore, besides TIM, Kai Leng, and Solara. The SIU did as well, I think, but they hadn't tried anything, so I guess they don't care about losing their ship. _Speaking of batarians..._

"TRON," I announced, getting his attention. "Make sure our little program we used last time in Afterlife is still functional. I get the feeling we might have some friends show up..."

* * *

Two hours later

I pounded the table with my fist, laughing so hard it hurt. Evon fell out of the booth to the floor because it was so funny.

"What'd you do next?" Jake asked, taking a swig of the beer he was holding in his hand. He had to lift his helmet up slightly to do so, but it wasn't a problem. Our faces were still hidden, and if need be, we could just seal our helmets so they coudn't be removed.

"Well, I already had it out," Ricky said. "So I just went ahead and did it." That sent us into another bout of laughter.

"Oh, I can't believe you did that," I told him after I had calmed down slightly.

"What was I supposed to do? It's not like I knew a cop would ambush me as I'm trying to take a piss in the bushes! It did provide a lovely distraction though." A new voice interrupted the conversation.

"Mind if I join in?" We all our turned our heads to see Tillman standing next to our table, arms stretched wide and probably a huge smile on his face.

"Tillman," we all shouted. We squeezed together to allow him to fit into the booth.

"Aria needs to make these tables bigger," Alex grunted as he was pressed up against the wall.

"Or you could just lose some weight," Tillman joked.

"So, Tillman," Evon began. "How are the weapons coming along?"

"Just fine," he replied. "The blades are all sharpened up and ready to be mounted on the armor. I'd have done that already, but you're wearing them."

"It'd be hard to get them on us while we're wearing our suits, unless you really wanted to," Timmy said absently.

"No shit, Sherlock," Ricky said.

"Hey, how're the Advanced RIGs coming along?" I asked, trying to learn something new.

"Oh, don't get me started," Tillman said. "The suits are great, Cerberus made it exactly to specifications, but the helmets. The helmets! You don't understand how hard it is to get it working. It's been a year and a half, and I still haven't managed to get it working yet. I mean, once I get one done, I can do the others easy, but just this first one, sheesh."

"Speaking of years," Alex said slowly.

"Oh no," I muttered jokingly.

"Guess who's is coming up?" he asked. Everyone's head snapped to look at me.

"What?" I asked innocently, looking at them. "It couldn't possibly be mine, I only had one last year." Ricky pointed his finger at me.

"You sir, are turning 22 in five days," he announced. "We need to get you a gift." My friends all started voicing their agreement.

"You guys don't need to do anything," I said modestly. "Just being with you guys is a gift." That brought a moment of silence where everyone stared at me. I couldn't hold their gaze for long before I relented.

"Fine, you got me. Buy me video games. Lots of video games." That made everyone laugh again.

"There's the Joseph we know and love," Alex exclaimed. We were all too busy laughing to notice the new group standing close to our table.

"Isn't that touching?" one of the newcomers said. Our laughter died down as we realized who was talking. We looked over at the person who spoke and saw a group of about nine or ten Blue Suns mercs standing there, an assortment of humans, batarians, and turians. _I knew they wouldn't leave us alone..._

"Listen, guys," I said as my friends and I scooted out of the booth. "We were paid to steal your shipment. It's nothing personal."

"Oh, we know," a turian replied. "That's why we won't kill you. We're just going to have to rough you up a little." I reached up and twisted my helmet to the side, sealing it shut. I could now talk with anyone I wanted over a secure RIGlink. That's right, we found a name for our communication lines. We were already in RIGs, so that was the next logical step. _It's been a while since I've been in a good barfight. Those are the best. _I slowly reached my hand behind me to grasp one of the many bottles on our table, evidence of our time in Afterlife.

"So you're going to try fighting us?" Timmy asked them. The mercenaries balled their hands into fists. I guess we had our answer. I opened a RIGlink with TRON quickly.

"They showed. I need you to use that program."

[Any particular choice?]

"How about Terror Is Reality? It's in the Dead Rising 2 album."

[Starting now.] The techo music that normally played in Afterlife suddenly stopped, causing everyone to look around at the walls. The silence was replaced by the heavy beats from the song I had chosen, fortunately, it still sounded vaguely techno.

Dead Echo began cracking their knuckles and rolling their heads around, loosening their bodies up for a fight. Anto noticed our movements from across the way and stepped towards us to break up the fight, but Aria called down to him. He glanced up and saw her shaking her head, allowing us to fight. We always paid for the damage, it was never too much. The benefits of being the best mercenaries under Aria's command were very good. I pointed at the group in front of me as I grabbed a bottle from behind.

"Terror is reality," I told them. One of the humans frowned.

"What the hell does that-" Next thing he knew, a bottle shattered on his face, sending glass everywhere. The Blue Suns yelled in anger and charged us as many civilians ran out of the club screaming. I chuckled as I saw a few patrons staying behind to watch. _They should pay us to watch this._

Echo dodged to the side of the attack and ran off to different parts of the floor. We had to split the guys up, otherwise we'd be overwhelmed. I stepped closer to the corner where Anto guarded the stairs up to Aria. On of the mercs, a human, cautiously approached me, fists raised. I beckoned towards him, taunting him.

He came within punching range and swung wildly at my head. I easily ducked beneath it and laughed.

"Is that the best you've got?" I asked him. He got a little more angry, which made him more likely to make mistakes. He tried a couple quick jabs to my stomach, which I jumped back from. In retaliation, I kicked my leg straight in between his legs, nailing him right in the crotch. He grabbed the sensitive area I had injured, the pain overwhelming him. I unleashed a haymaker on him, winding up the punch and hitting him with all the force I could manage.

My fist connected with his head, sending him sprawling to the ground, knocked out. My hand throbbed from the power punch, so I shook it, trying to get it to feel normal again. I saw Alex rip a turian's helmet off and toss it away in order to punch him in the face, which he did. The poor turian stumbled backwards, allowing Alex to tackle him to the floor, and begin beating him senseless. Timmy had two batarians close in on him, cornering him.

If it was anybody other than Timmy, I'd have been worried. I actually was a little worried about the two mercs. I continued to look around the room to see what was happening. Evon was in fisticuffs with a human, Jake was leaping over tables to escape a batarian, a human, and a turian, and Tillman was sweep-kicking a turian to the floor. Ricky was nowhere to be seen. I glanced around. _Where did he get off to? _Then I noticed a hand reach up from behind the bar and grab a bottle before quickly vanishing back down.

I quickly walked over to the bar and peered over the edge to find Ricky sitting on the floor, drinking a bottle of what looked like whiskey or something.

"What are you doing?" I asked him. His eyes shot up in surprise. Clearly, he wasn't expecting to be found.

"Uhh..." I sighed and just stood up to walk away when I was bear hugged from behind by a merc. He startled me, which let him slam me to the counter.

"Ricky," I coughed. He glanced up again and saw me being grappled. Without breaking his cover, he grabbed a random bootle and reached up to give it to me. Just as the guy was pulling me away from the counter, I managed to grab it. With a weapon now in my hands, I went limp in the man's arms. The extra weight suddenly caused him to drop me to the floor, but I stood up before I hit the ground. I turned around to see a human male staring at me in shock.

I lifted the bottle and smashed it on his head just as the song launched into one of the more intense guitar parts. It could not have been timed more perfectly. I looked to see if anyone was near me, which they weren't. Timmy took care of his two guys, Alex had left the turian bleeding on the floor, Evon had knocked out his opponent, and Tillman was still fighting the turian. everyone except for him was helping Jake out with the final three.

I reached behind the counter and grabbed another bottle. I checked the label, it read Serrice Ice Brandy. I popped the top off, I had never tried it before. Watching the fight continue, I took a swig of it and swallowed before going into a coughing fit. _Jesus, that stuff is STRONG. _Ricky stood up from behind the counter.

"Hey, gimme that," he said. Still coughing, I handed it over for him to try. He took a sip instead of a huge mouthful, and it still made him cough too. He glanced at the label before carefully setting it down. Ricky then hopped over the counter and we watched Alex finish the fight with a spectacular simple punch to the face of the last Blue Suns guy. A few seconds later, the music stopped and reverted back to the normal techno beats of Afterlife.

I glanced up at Aria to see what she thought of the incident. If I didn't know she wouldn't actually do anything, I would have thought she'd rip us to pieces with her bare hands from the way she was looking at us.

"Sorry, Aria," I called up to her. "Just give us the bill for the damages, and we'll pay for it all."

"Just like the last half a dozen times," Ricky muttered. We decided it would be best if we left the establishment, so we filed out and headed back to the Fury.

"Don't mess with the best," Evon quipped.

"Hoorah," Alex agreed. We walked along in silence for a few minutes before Alex spoke up again.

"You know, Joseph, it's uhh...it's getting close to 2183."

"So it is," I said.

"I wonder how it'll go? What'll we have to do? Will Anderson remember us?"

"I doubt it," I snorted. "Anderson was so out of it when we dropped him off at the hospital. And we'll just look up what we have to do on my phone. It won't be that hard."

"I suppose not," he replied. A message from TRON appeared on our HUDs as we walked.

[New mission: Courier assignment. Package to be delivered from Omega to New York City. Address to be given with pick up of package. Specific couriers requested: Thunder and Ghost.]

"Oh, fantastic," I said. "Just great." A second message appeared.

[New mission: Report to Shadow Broker on planet Alingon.]

"Oh. Even better."

"Hey," Timmy said. "You and Jake go take a public shuttle to deliver that package, we'll find out what the Broker wants on the Fury."

"Alright," I said. "That works." Jake and I watched the rest of Echo wander off towards the ship.

"I've always wanted to go to New York," Jake said wistfully.

"Well, now's your chance," I replied. "Come on, let's go get this done."

* * *

Present day

I stood at the address of the delivery by myself, Jake had gone off to explore the city. He was getting pizza on the far end of the city, which left me to deliver this container to its destination. Apparently, I was supposed to deliver it to a crowded street corner.

I glanced around, looking for anyone who was waiting for something. Nobody was, they were all running around going places. _Well, this is fun. _My RIGlink automatically opened, showing someone wanted to talk to me.

"Hey, what do you want?" I asked, expecting it to be Jake.

"You are delivering my package, correct?" came the gravelly reply. I nearly dropped the box in surprise. NO ONE had ever gotten into our secure link.

"Who the hell is this?" I demanded.

"Could you do me a favor and open the box?" the voice continued, ignoring my question.

"Listen, buddy, I'm not doing anything until-"

"Mr. Smeltzer. Open the box." I froze. He knew my name.

"Who are you?" I whispered.

"Open the box, Mr. Smeltzer. Relax. It's not a bomb." I figured the only way I was going to get answers from this mysterious guy was if I did what he wanted, so I unsealed the lid and gently opened it. I had it open about a couple inches when the man spoke again.

"Enjoy." Then the box exploded with blue light, blinding me. That was the last thing I felt before it all went black.

**Author's Note: Cliffhanger. Sue me. I finally got a Twitter account, Thunderfury1212. It wouldn't fit the 4... I recommend you check it occasionally, I'll post DE news on there and hint at things that will show up in the future. Like for example, when you read this, I'll already have a link up there to something important.**


	16. Crazy Stories

**Author's Note: I wanted to get back onto a fairly normal weekend update schedule, sorry for being a few days late. Without further ado, chapter 16!**

Present day 19:24

The Fury completed its jump into the Faryar system, on a trajectory for the planet Alingon. Within moments, sentry ships belonging to the Shadow Broker swooped in alongside. Evon and Alex were waiting on the bridge of the Fury for this exact moment. The comms crackled as the sentries hailed the two mercenaries.

"Thunder, we have been ordered to escort you to base. Will you comply?" Evon leaned in slightly to reply, but Alex shoved past him to speak first.

"Thunder is predisposed," Alex said, sounding slightly angry. "You are speaking to Ajax of Dead Echo." One of the sentries pulled away from the pack and swiveled to face the front of the ship, weapons bristling. Evon glared at Alex for doing that, but his gaze was pointedly ignored.

"Will you comply?" the sentry demanded.

"We will," Evon blurted out before Alex could say anything more. "We'll follow your orders." The ships drifted to each side of the Fury and began flying it in to the base on Alingon. Evon angrily turned to Alex.

"What the hell was that?" he asked. "You could of gotten us killed!"

"They were talking to Joseph, and he wasn't here," Alex said with a shrug. "I was just telling them that."

"Sure," Evon scoffed. "You didn't have to tell them he wasn't here, you know."

"Well, I did. That's the end of it. Go make sure everyone's suited up and ready." Evon slowly walked out of the room, confused by Alex's sudden aggressive behavior. He normally just kept himself quiet and out of the way unless he was in combat, so putting himself out there like that was very odd. _Maybe Solara got mad at him for something..._

Ever since Alex and Solara met a couple years ago, they'd kept in touch, swapping merc stories. On occasion, she teamed up with Echo for a job, but it was mostly contact just via the extranet. The two were close friends due to their love of battle, but they weren't in a relationship. He was teased about it for a couple months, but his constant apathy about it bored everyone, so we gave up. She was the only real close friend he had other than us, so it's possible something happened, but not likely.

By the time the ship landed in the docking bay, the five mercenary friends were all ready to get moving, helmets sealed and weapons stowed in place. The airlock door opened to allow the team into the Shadow Broker's base. There were a few agents scattered around, going about their business, but other than that, the facility was fairly empty.

"Must be a quiet day," Tillman remarked.

"Let's just get this over with," Alex muttered. He started walking off in the direction of the briefing room, or whatever the place the Broker handed out assignments was called. Tillman glanced over at Evon, who simply responded with a shrug. The group had taken only a few steps when a voice called out from the side.

"Dead Echo!" The mercs turned to the right and saw a green-skinned salarian in battle armor stalking towards them.

"Tazzik," Ricky called out eagerly. "How ya-"

"Shut up."

"Ok." Ricky did the smart thing and shut up, allowing Tazzik to speak his mind. The toughest salarian Echo had ever laid eyes on swept his menacing gaze over the group.

"You're two short," he commented. "Lose a couple in the field?" Jake stepped forward to the front of the pack.

"Far from it. They're delivering a package."

"Package or not, you owe me money. I've come to..." Tazzik's question dropped off as his expression changed from anger to one of thoughtfulness. "You said they were delivering a package?"

"Yeah," Jake replied.

"Tell me, where was this package being delivered to?"

"New York City on Earth. Our homeworld. Why?" Jake asked suspiciously.

"Oh, no reason. Just come to the security room once you've gotten your new mission. I'll make sure you have clearance." He quickly turned and walked away, leaving Echo puzzled over his sudden change in his demeanor. They shrugged it off and continued to the briefing room however.

They walked in the door facing a large room filled with people from various species working on terminals, typing in new data as fast as it came in. The five friends continued moving past the workers towards the figure shrouded in light at the end of the room. It was widly known amongst those who visited Alingon that the figure was merely a fake made out to be a person the Broker used to deliver orders. Jake stepped forward, acting as leader of the team.

"This is Echo 2 of Dead Echo," he began. "We are here to recieve our orders."

"Dead Echo." The deep synthesized voice boomed from the hidden speakers on the figure. "My contact on the Citadel informs me of an individual who desires protection. This individual is willing to pay a large sum of credits in return for your services. You are to report to Barla Von in the Presidium. He has the details on your objective."

"Yes sir," Jake replied. The Broker fell silent, his signal to get moving. Echo filed out of the room and began to start walking back to the Fury before Timmy grabbed Jake's arm.

"Tazzik wanted us in the security center, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Jake said, now remembering that conversation. "Alright, let's go." The warriors slowly clomped their way through the base in their armor, reaching the sealed security center in just a few minutes. The guards near the door raised their weapons as Echo drew near, but Tazzik stepped out from inside the room.

"They're cleared," he said gruffly to the guards. The two men seemed reluctant to lower their guns, but they followed their orders. Tazzik beckoned the new arrivals inside. Echo shuffled into the monitor lined room, squeezing together to fit comfortably in order to not disturb the people working at their stations.

"You aren't going to attack us while we're all bunched up like this, are you?" Tillman asked. "That wouldn't be fun." Tazzik slowly turned around, a cruel smile on his alien lips. It sent a chill through the mercenaries.

"Far from it," he told them. "No, I thought you might be interested in this." Using a small datapad, he turned on one of the wall mounted monitors. The picture displayed was that of a news network. Jake would have taken note of the name and who was speaking if it wasn't for the devastation displayed on screen.

The news footage was that of New York City, and its current state was not dissimilar to what Evon had seen video and pictures of back home, the ones of 9/11, the infamous day when terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center.

A section of the city was obliterated. Disintegrated, almost. There was a large plume of smoke rising from the destroyed section of the city, buildings crumbled around it, fires spreading. Whatever had happened occured so close to a skyscraper that it knocked the whole building over onto its side, crushing anything in its path. In the center of it all was a crater. A crater several blocks wide and almost perfectly smooth aside from a small raised section in the middle of it.

"Jesus," Evon whispered. "How many people were down there?"

"Your news channels are estimating the death count will be in the thousands," Tazzik sneered. As the humans watched in horror, emergency personnel swarmed towards and into the area to help in any way they could.

"When did this happen?" Timmy asked.

"About a couple hours ago. It'll be all over the media for days." The moment Tazzik answered Timmy's question, one of the guards' terminals begin flashing red. The whole room was thrown into action, the guards going into panic mode and shouting out commands.

"Hey," Tazzik shouted over the general noise level. The security officers fell silent as Tazzik stepped into the center of the room. "What's the situation?" he asked quietly. One of the few guards who were standing and giving orders, the ones in command, turned to face Tazzik.

"We've got a perimeter breach," he informed them through his opaque helmet. "An unknown shuttle coming in at high speed. It wasn't on the list. I'm going to have to ask you to clear the room."

"Sir," one of the guards, a salarian, working at a terminal called. "The shuttle is transmitting the correct entry codes, but they appear to have been transmitted before only a short while ago by a different ship."

"What?" the leader asked, bewildered at how such a thing could be possible. "What is the registry of the earlier ship?" The salarian frantically tapped away at his terminal to find the information.

"Ship's name is the SSV Fury, registered to the Dead Echo team," he said over his shoulder. The lead guard turned back to Tazzik and the others only to find that there were no others. Tazzik was left alone in the room, the other mercs who accompanied him were gone.

* * *

Timmy was the first one to arrive on the landing platform where the shuttle would be landing, his teammates close behind. They all knew it was Jake and Joseph, they were the only two who had the access codes but weren't already on the planet.

The unmarked shuttle suddenly appeared in the sky, zooming in like a missle. It looked like it was going to just fly into the ground, but it pulled out of its dive at the last possible second, skimming the floor by only a couple feet. It used the thrusters on its underbelly to safely land on the platform with a resounding thump, at which point the rest of Echo ran towards it. The hatch popped open to reveal an exhausted Jake step out of the shuttle and lean up against it.

"Where is he?" Timmy asked after making it to the shuttle. Jake jerked his head towards the open door, too tired to speak. Timmy hopped inside the craft to find the remaining Echo member strapped into a seat, unmoving. Timmy reached forward to remove Joseph's helmet but Jake's voice stopped him.

"Wait until we get him to the med-bay on the Fury before we do that," he said.

"He's injured?"

"Badly." Jake let out a single forced laugh. "It was hell getting him back to the shuttle. Alliance guys were everywhere." Alex climbed inside the shuttle to pick Joseph up. He undid the straps holding his unconscious friend in the seat and hoisted him over his shoulder. Alex exited the shuttle with Timmy right behind him.

"Let's get moving," he announced. The team quickly navigated their way through the halls of the Broker's base towards their ship. Only once when they left the landing pad were they stopped by guards, but by explaining that the occupants of the shuttle were part of Dead Echo, the team was allowed to continue.

Reaching the Fury, Echo hurried into the medical bay. TRON had already prepared as much of the room as he could upon picking up the information that Joseph was injured. The terminals were online and the few medical machines inside the room had been placed on standby. Alex gently lowered Joseph onto the nearest bed, then backed away to allow someone else to do the delicate work of removing his armor. Jake stepped forward and carefully twisted Joseph's helmet to unseal it. Lifting it off, Joseph's face was revealed.

Patches of skin looked like they had been simply torn off, leaving it red and raw under the armor. The hair was still intact, so he had that going for him.

"Is it like this all over the rest of him?" Ricky asked, for once not making a sarcastic remark.

"I imagine," Jake replied. "Whatever happened affected his body, but not his armor. I've never seen anything like it." Timmy and Tillman both began the painstaking job of slowly removing the rest of Joseph's armor while Evon took off his helmet to talk to Jake.

"So what did happen?" came the obvious question.

"I honestly don't know," Jake replied, tossing a hand in the air. "I was getting pizza on the north side of the city, when suddenly, my HUD shut down. Like just went black for no reason. I started hearing screams from behind me, outside, so I figured there was a crime going on or something. I was about to try rebooting my helmet when some civvy knocked me down in panic. My helmet went tumbling off when I hit the floor. I was going to panic, but I realized no one was in the store. I quickly tried a reboot though. Nothing happened. Lights were off inside too, electronics had been completely wiped out. it was like an EMP went off. I stepped outside and looked down the street where everyone was pointing, and do you know what I saw?" Ricky shook his head even though Jake was asking a rhetorical question.

"A fucking skyscraper collapsing on its side. A SKYSCRAPER. With burning things falling from the sky. Who the hell has the power to do that? It reminded me of when the twin towers collapsed. You could hear the screams even from where I was. I began to call Joe here when I remembered comms were down. Glancing at the site of...whatever, it hit me. That's in the direction of where Joe was delivering the package. I started sprinting over to make sure he was alright. Emergency services had yet to get there, people were still running in fear. I got to the place only to find a giant crater. Everything completely obliterated. Except for one section of flat land in the middle, and guess who was on it." Alex tore off his helmet, a sudden expression of mixed anger and shock.

"He was," he stated flatly, pointing to Joseph's unmoving form. Jake nodded his head.

"Yeah. Alive and breathing. Burned as hell and unconscious, but alive." Alex threw the boot he was holding to the floor and began pacing back and forth.

"This sounds oddly familiar. Like..." He abruptly turned and stormed out the medical bay for reasons unknown. Ricky continued asking questions.

"How did he manage to survive such a massive blast?"

"I don't even know," Jake said simply. "I don't even know. I mean, this thing wiped out a huge amount of land. It had to be a bomb. Seeing as Joe was delivering the package, and he was in the center of it, the package had to be a bomb. But why pay us to blow ourselves up? I don't get it."

"How'd you get him out of there?" Evon asked.

"I just picked him up, and I ran. Just flat-out ran. Alliance was closing in, cops, EMT's, firefighters, all the people I didn't want to run into. We barely made it out. My body's killing me from all the shit I had to go through today."

"How long did it take you to get to him in the first place?" Jake thought about that for a couple seconds.

"Maybe about ten minutes? I was surprised no one got there before I did." The med-bay doors opened with a hiss and Alex walked back inside, Joseph's iPhone in an ungloved hand. He tapped a couple buttons before handing it over to Jake.

"Did the crater look anything like what's in this?" he asked. Jake looked down at the small screen and watched a short video of a man in a video game waking up in a crater. One that looked identical to the one he had just seen.

"This is it," Jake cried. "This is pretty much exactly what I saw!" Alex snatched the phone back from Jake's hands.

"Then we might have a problem," he said ominously. "Did Joseph wake up in the crater at all?"

"No," Jake said, shaking his head. "Never looked like he woke up." Alex beckoned to Tillman, and the two left the room as Alex shouted one final command.

"Get us moving on the next job, please!" The door sealed, leaving the four others and one unconscious person alone.

"Uhh...what next job?" Jake asked.

"Babysitting on the Citadel," Evon responded with a grimace. Jake hung his head with a sigh.

"Man...I hate babysitting."

* * *

The six friends stared at the customs desk for their usual entry point into the Citadel with resigned looks.

"I'll do it," Alex said with a sigh. He glanced behind him to find his so-called friends standing a few feet back, staring at anything but him. "Don't everybody volunteer at once..." Alex stepped forward into the security scanner. The turian C-Sec officer at the far end of the hall cringed in fear slightly the moment Alex walked into the room. Neither of them said a word as Alex's identity was checked for any abnormalities.

"Sir?" the turian tried to ask politely. Alex slowly adjusted his view until he was looking at the C-Sec officer, attempting to intimidate him. Pretending to be unfazed, the alien continued. "I'm going to have to ask you to-wait, what?" He put a talon up to approximately wherever his ear would be and listened to who was talking to him. He turned back to Alex a couple seconds later.

"Sorry for the delay, sir. You can go on in." The door behind him opened, allowing access to the Wards. Alex's mouth opened in surprise, but he briskly walked inside. His visor picked up on a figure up against a wall to his left, making an attempt to be discreet. Alex stopped and jerked his head to the left. The young C-Sec detective trying to ambush the Dead Echo operative had a large grin on his face, but it faded as he picked up on the colors of Alex's suit.

"Oh. You aren't Thunder," Ian Shaw said. Alex shook his head.

"Ajax," he replied. "You're that Shaw kid. I remember you."

"Kid?" Ian said incredulously. "I take offense to that, I'm 21 years old." There was a bit of an awkward pause between the two, Ian not knowing what to say, Alex just not talking. "Ok, moving on," Ian announced loudly. "What's Dead Echo doing on the Citadel, huh?"

"Babysitting." Ian raised an eyebrow, not understanding. "It's bodyguard duty," Alex explained.

"You're here for that?" Ian asked. "That's it? Wow. I never thought you'd just be here to watch someone."

"It happens on occasion," Alex shrugged.

"Well, if it's all the same to you, I'll still be keeping an eye on you and your buddies."

"What, with your turian pet?"

"Partner. PARTNER," Ian emphasized.

"Ok then," Alex said. "If we're done here..."

"I've got a meeting with an Alliance official anyway. You have clearance to do your job, but we'll be watching you." Alex walked forward into the Wards, ignoring Ian. He sent the all-clear signal to his teammates, then set about finding transportation to the Presidium. Barla Von was waiting...

* * *

The six mercenaries casually strolled into Barla Von's place of work, feeling a little dejected that they were a man down. They'd never done a team job without the whole team. The little volus looked up from his desk as Echo entered his business.

"Dead Echo," he began. "This is a pleasant surprise."

"Greetings, Barla Von," Timmy responded, bowing slightly. "How are you?"

"I am well. I trust you are the same?"

"Mostly. I hear you have a job for us?" The volus informant typed up some information on one of his terminals.

"Yes," he confirmed as he worked. "A young man came to me asking for protection. He believes he is being hunted by an unknown force."

"Can we get a name and address?" Ricky asked.

"The person in question is currently hiding out in an apartment I located for him, located at this address. His place of living is here though." Barla Von sent an information file to Jake's omni-tool, who promptly sent it to the rest of the team.

"What's the target's name?" Jake asked.

"His name is Arturo Rodriguez. He is a composer for movies. All the information you require is on that disk I gave you."

"Alright," Timmy said, nodding his head respectfully. "Thank you." Echo filed out of the room back onto the Presidium.

"Well, what now?" Ricky asked.

"We go talk to the guy, stupid," Tillman replied sarcastically. "Whaddya think we were going to do?"

"Hey, hey," Jake said, trying to keep people polite. "Let's just go to the apartment, talk to the guy, then check out where he lives. Just keep it simple."

"Sounds like a plan," Timmy agreed.

* * *

Evon stepped up to the apartment door in the 800 blocks. He glanced behind him at his friends who nodded, telling him to go ahead and do it. Raising his hand, he knocked on the door a few times, then waited. It took a minute or so, but eventually, the door was opened by a nicely dressed turian. His mandibles opened slightly in shock at the appearance of the mercenaries in front of him. If this turian was the one sheltering Arturo, then he must have thought a hit team had arrived or something like that.

"Uhh, can I help you, gentlemen?" he asked.

"Yes," Evon replied. "Barla Von gave me this-" Evon brought up his omni-tool, displaying proof that Dead Echo were the ones in charge of providing bodyguard services for Arturo. "We're here to protect Mr. Rodriguez."

"Oh, thank the spirits," the turian exclaimed. "My name's Mangdalar Vorolis. Art's right this way." Mangdalar stepped to the side to allow the armored squad to step into his home. Dead Echo filed inside, checking out the place. It was a modestly sized apartment, it had enough space to comfortably fit everyone inside. Maybe not live together, but at least they could fit. Mangdalar escorted the team into a back room containing a small bed, Art sitting on it with his head in his hands. He glanced up and saw Echo standing in front of him, and seeing as how they were allowed in, assumed the mercs were his bodyguards, which they were.

"Oh, Jesus Christ on a pikestaff," he exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "You're finally here!" Ricky and Tillman glanced at each other, silently agreeing that that was a strange thing to say.

"Hey, hold up," Jake said. He used hand signals to tell his friends to check the area for anything dangerous. Art stood there, nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot. Jake motioned for him to sit back down, and Jake simply crouched on the floor.

"So, Mr..."

"Ghost," Jake said, filling in the blank. "You can just call me Ghost."

"That's an odd name," Art commented.

"Why don't you start off by telling me why you think someone's after you?" Jake asked, switching the subject. "We can talk after I make sure you're safe."

"Oh God, where do I start? Umm...ok. A couple nights ago, a friend of mine and I went out to a bar. I didn't really want to, but he forced me. He is-was...much stronger than me, not to mention he was at least 30 years older than me." Jake had begun recording the conversation on his omni-tool, just in case he needed to review anything.

"You're how old?" Jake asked.

"21. But anyway," Art continued, "so we went out. He started drinking a lot, but I didn't since I needed to keep my mind clear so I could compose. After an hour, I think, the guy starts telling me how he's been lying to me the whole time about his job."

"Go on."

"I'd known this man for years, and always thought he was a teacher of some kind from what he told me. But he started telling me this crazy story about he was this soldier."

"He's Alliance?" Jake asked, interrupting the story.

"No no no," Art said quickly. "He's not a merc either, he belongs to this one group, Serpa, or something like that."

"He's like Terra Firma?"

"No, it's...argh! This is so hard to explain!"

"Hey, calm down," Jake said, gently patting the composer on the shoulder. "Nobody's rushing you." Arturo took a few deep, calming breaths before continuing.

"Ok...so, this Serpa group, whatever it's called, it's some private thing. It's got all these soldiers and scientists working on stuff, but you can't hire them. They have their own agenda, whatever they're doing is bad stuff." Jake raised an eyebrow underneath his helmet, slightly unbelieving of the story so far, but he allowed Art to keep going. "The group's made up of only humans, and they've got all these secret bases and shit, it's fucking crazy."

"Ok, I'm sorry," Jake said. "I'm not seeing how this pertains to your being hunted."

"I'm getting there," Art yelled. "My friend told me that this group's been around ever since humanity discovered alien races existed, maybe even before then. And there's a rumor going around in Serpa that the group's been led by one man, and one guy only ever since it was created, and that he's very mysterious. Barely anybody sees him, and they say he's got these...powers, like he can kill a man just by looking at him."

"Sounds like a fake to me," Jake mused.

"That's what I was thinking too, except my friend showed me this video he had on his omni-tool. It was a short vid, but he had me convinced after I saw it. It's some futuristic lab or something, scientists, guards, it looked like something out of a movie. This one guy walks into the room in the most intimidating armor I'd ever seen, he looked like a walking tank. Behind him is this guy in a black cloak with the hood up, of all things. I mean, who the hell wears that outfit anymore?" Jake stared blankly at Art for a few seconds, waiting for the story to continue.

"So the cloaked guy and the armored guy start yelling at each other until the cloaked guy says something that makes guards run in and hold down the guy in armor. They take all the armor off and stand the guy back up and walk away. Then everyone just fucking watches as the cloaked guy stares at the man who used to be in armor until until he blows up. Like, literally, the not armored man just explodes into meat chunks as if there was a bomb inside him."

"Are you sure you didn't drink anything?" Jake asked. "This is pretty strange for a story."

"Look, I don't know what happened. All I know is that the man in a cloak seemingly made another man explode just by staring him down. I almost threw up right there, but my friend was too drunk to care. Anyway, he tells me all this stuff and then we left, me very disturbed and him drunk. Next day, I hear that he died. He was electrocuted by messing around in the Citadel's systems."

"People die all the time," Jake shrugged. "What's so different about this?"

"Well, my friend died, for one. Two, I swore I could feel people watching me. The whole day until I found out my friend died, I could feel people staring at me, even when I was all alone in an empty room. When I found out my friend died, I knew there was only one explanation for it. Serpa killed him for talking, and they're going to kill me too!"

"Right," Jake said slowly. "Well, I'm, uhh, I'm going to have one of my guys check out your apartment first, ok? Then we'll figure out what to do next." Art nodded his consent before pulling a small object out of his pocket, handing it to Jake.

"You'll need my key to get in," he said. "The address is-"

"We have the address," Jake said, raising a hand to stop Art from talking. "My men and I will be here if you need us, but I'll be back to talk with you some more in a little while." Jake turned and walked out of the room, nearly bumping into Ricky on his way out.

"What'd he say?" Ricky asked. "Did he accidentally kiss a guy's girlfriend?"

"Ha, I wish," Jake chuckled. "That'd make it easier. No, he says some secret organization's after him because he knows things." Ricky wiggled his fingers in front of him, making mock spooky noises. Jake brushed past him, headed to Alex who was standing in a corner, arms folded across his chest. Jake tossed Art's key over to Alex as he came near, causing Alex's hand to shoot out and snatch the key out of the air.

"I need you to check out Art's apartment," Jake told him. "Just look around to see if anything looks suspicious and then report back to me." Alex nodded once and then silently left Mangdalar's apartment, headed off to accomplish his assigned task. Jake sighed as began walking back to Arturo.

"Time to go back for more crazy stories," he muttered to himself.

* * *

Alex slowly walked up to the door of Art's apartment. He glanced up and down the hall to see if anyone was in the area, but he was clear. He took Art's key out of a pouch on his belt and clicked the button, opening the door. It quietly slid open to allow Alex access. He stepped inside with his shotgun drawn, ready for anything.

The lights in the room snapped on, illuminating a perfectly clean, good-sized room. He began taking a look around the area as the entrance closed, just in case something was wrong. The more he saw though, the more he was convinced that Art might have been mistaken about people wanting him dead. The room was completely undisturbed, nothing had been touched since Art had last been in here. The bed was made, clothes put away, it seemed perfectly fine.

Shrugging, Alex turned back to the door and hit the button that activated the door controls. It slid open to reveal five men, four with assault rifles raised and the fifth standing behind the others, hands clasped behind his back. The men were all in Alliance armor, further complicating things. Alex brought his shotgun up to fire when the man with his hands behind his back spoke.

"You will lower your weapon," he demanded. "Now." Alex didn't move at all, continuing to stare the Alliance down. "Do not...toy with me," the man said. "I will not ask again." Alex kept his gun ready for a few more seconds before finally lowering it and replacing it on his back.

"What do you guys want?" he asked.

"You will come with us," the man said. By this time, Alex had figured out he was the leader of the group. There wasn't any insignia on him though, which was strange. Two of the four grunts, put away their rifles and grabbed Alex by the shoulders. They steered him out the door and down the hall, the leader walking in the front of the pack. The group piled into an elevator, but instead of descending, the lead man hit the button for the roof.

The lift shot up, moving surprisingly fast for a Mass Effect elevator. In seconds, they reached the roof. The doors opened to reveal a waiting shuttle a few meters away. Alex was forced onto the craft and seated next to the lead man. The shuttle then took off and began soaring across the Citadel to an unknown destination. A few minutes of silence passed as the shuttle flew to wherever it was going.

"Hey, Lieutenant Commander," one of the Alliance men said. The lead man looked up from his seat to the man who called him. The grunt pulled out a small cylinder and tossed it to the officer. He easily caught it, and with a flick of his wrist, extended it to a length of about a foot. He wiggled it slightly and a spark jumped from the tip. Alex was quietly watching through the use of his peripheral vision, and he saw that the Lt. Commander was bringing the baton-like item down on his head.

One tap of the object disrupted all of Alex's helmet, the HUD burst into static and wavered before just shutting down completely, providing Alex with only darkness to stare at. At least another five to ten minutes passed before the shuttle landed and Alex was yanked to his feet. Still unable to see, he was escorted through a building of some type with many twists and turns. As he was in the midst of walking, he was pulled to a halt. A voice was clearly heard through the outside of Alex's helmet.

"Lieutenant Commander Mael Radec, authorization code 1598421." Alex gasped in surprise. _That's not possible... _After that, the group continued on, walking through a few more corridors and rooms before Alex was suddenly shoved into a chair. Next thing he knew, his helmet was pulled off his head. Blinking in surprise, his eyes quickly adjusted to the light.

He was in a large room that looked like it belonged to a warehouse. He was surrounded by the same people who had kidnapped him and brought him here. Alex recognized the Lt. Commander who had spoken earlier.

"Where am I?" Alex asked the man. There was no answer. "Who are you?" Alex persisted.

"No questions," the leader said. "Just be quiet, and don't move." A couple more moments passed by before a door could be heard opening behind Alex.

"LT," one of the men cautioned. Alex saw the man named Radec nod once. Footsteps approached from behind, and the Alliance men could be seen tightening their grip on their rifles. Radec, however, remained pefectly calm. The footsteps stopped directly behind Alex. If he looked up, he would have seen the person who was making them above him.

"Alexander Herrel." The voice from behind finally spoke, and it shocked Alex. The man knew his name, and Alex recognized the voice. _What the fuck is going on here?_ The person who spoke stepped around the chair Alex was sitting in, allowing himself to be seen. He wore a dark outfit with an overcoat made out of the exact same material and color, a dark futuristic type of leather. He had slicked back blond hair, gloves, a Carnifax pistol on his belt that was barely visible underneath the coat, and sunglasses. There was only one person Alex knew that wore sunglasses indoors, and that man shoudn't even exist. The man knelt down to Alex's eyelevel and opened his mouth to talk.

"My name...is Albert Wesker." Alex's mouth was agape. Wesker smiled deviously. "But you knew that already, didn't you?" All Alex could do was stare in amazement. Albert Wesker, here. In the flesh. Wesker stood up and began circling Alex like a predatory shark.

"I am here to tell you that what you are meddling in is not worth it. I suggest you abandon this job and go home." Alex had to swallow a couple times before he could actually say anything.

"And if we don't?"

"Then we will be forced to kill you," Wesker said simply. "And that is something my leader desperately wants to not happen. We have plans for you, Echo. Follow my advice and leave."

"But-"

"Some people must die to protect the lives of many. You'll do well to remember that." Wesker turned to look at Radec.

"Radec," he said politely.

"Wesker," came the response. Wesker left the room, his footsteps receding into the distance. Alex was in a partial state of shock, and as such, he never saw the shock baton heading towards the side of his head.

**Author's Note: Joseph unconscious, a cameo of Arturo from Mass Vexations, Detective Shaw reappears, Albert Wesker conspiring with the Alliance, oh no! The insanity! Ian Shaw belongs to inf3CtioNZ, Arturo to Herr Wozzeck, and anything else to its respective owners. **


	17. Praxis

**Author's Note: Ok, it started off being laziness that prevented me from getting this out, but then it turned into actually getting busy, surprisingly. All this time goes by, and NOW, I had work to do...**

December 11th, 2182 03:23

Timmy quietly stepped out of the dark room Art was now sleeping in. The poor guy's paranoia had kept him awake for over four hours, and as a result, kept Echo awake as well. The mercenaries were spread out in the apartment's living room, sprawled over any furniture they found the slightest bit comfortable. Everyone except for Jake was falling asleep. Ricky was comically lying with half his body hanging off a couch, it had to feel terrible.

Jake noticed Timmy walk into the living room, head drooping from exhaustion. "You finally got him to relax, huh?" Jake asked over RIGlink. Timmy replied by shaking his head before flopping down into a chair. Jake smiled, playfully shaking his head at his friend. He then glanced at the clock that was on his helmet's display. It had been way too long since Alex had been sent out to recon Art's apartment. Jake still had a connection to his RIG, but any calls he tried to make were denied, and the locator purposefully deactivated. Members of the team did that on occasion when they went out to do something on their own, but in Alex's case, it made no sense. He was under orders to return after all.

A sudden pounding on the front door jolted everybody back to alertness, including Art, unfortunately. His sudden annoying cries for protection went unheard as Echo reacted as fast as they could to the possible threat. Which was to say, not very fast at all.

Aside from Jake, everybody had to force themselves to their feet. Ricky stood up and casually stretched, acting as if nothing was wrong. Jake, pistol already in hand and waiting by the door, used body language to basically ask Ricky what the hell he was doing. Ricky shrugged before taking his rifle off his back. The rest of the team was in the process of aiming their guns at the front door when Jake reached forward and hit the controls. He spun to the side, ready to fire, when Alex staggered in through the door.

"Jesus, Ajax," Jake said as he placed his weapon back on his belt. "Where the hell have you been?" Alex reached up, grabbed his helmet with both hands, and tore it off his head, tossing it to the ground. He stumbled into the kitchen as Mangdalar and his asari mate, Yelena, walked out of their bedroom. Tillman had begun to explain what was going on to the pair when Art poked his head around the edge of his doorframe.

"Have they come to kill me yet?" he asked. Evon turned around to face him, holstering his gun.

"Art," he said. "No one. Is going. To kill you. Do you understand?"

"You're wrong." Echo whirled around to stare at Alex, who was holding a glass of water he had just filled from the kitchen sink. Alex started gulping down the water as Art began yelling "I told you so!" Jake gave up, and turned back to face Art.

"Would someone PLEASE shut him up?" he shouted. Timmy hurried over to Arturo in order to try getting him to calm down again. "And you two," Jake continued, pointing a finger at Mangdalar and Yelena. "Go back to bed." The couple retreated to their room, eager to get away from the yelling.

"Thank you," Jake exclaimed. "God, this night...now, Alex. Where were you? We've been waiting forever!"

"Just woke up," Alex rasped, refilling his glass.

"Just woke up?" Jake said incredulously. "What, you took a nap over there?" Alex held up a finger as he drank deeply from his cup. It took a few seconds for him to finish drinking, at which point he set his cup down and let his arm drop to his side.

"Needed that."

"Just like you needed to abandon us here, eh?" Tillman said sarcastically.

"No," Alex said pointedly. "That's not my fault."

"Well, it teaches us not to let you play video games all night long," Ricky joked.

"Will you just be quiet already?" Alex shouted. "God, you people make me so mad sometimes!"

"Guys," Timmy interjected, suddenly reappearing in the conversation. "Let him speak."

"Finally," Alex agreed. "Someone has common sense."

"Just get to it," Jake said, annoyed.

"Fine," Alex growled. "So I went to his place, and it was spotless. Looked just like you told me it did as I was on the way there. I go to leave, and there are these five guys outside the door. Alliance. Had me at gunpoint and forced me to go with them."

"That doesn't sound like Alliance to me," Evon remarked. "You sure?"

"Positive. They used ranks and had military professionalism."

"Why'd they want you?" Jake asked.

"They put me on this shuttle and flew off somewhere," Alex continued. "One of the guys pulled out this shock baton and hit my helmet with it, shut the whole thing down. The HUD turned off, so I couldn't see a thing. We landed, and I was pulled outside and pushed through a bunch of hallways. We get to wherever we were going, I get shoved into a chair and my helmet taken off."

"What Alliance are we talking about here?" Ricky joked. "Really doesn't sound like ours."

"Oh, it was," Alex confirmed. "The guy in charge was a certain Lieutenant Commander Mael Radec. Now, I'd need Joseph to confirm this, but I'm pretty damn certain that Radec is from a game series back home called Killzone." That tidbit of information elicited gasps from everyone. "Sure, in the game he was a colonel for the Helghast army, but he's an officer in the Alliance, so basically the same role."

"My God," Jake breathed. "Another thing from a video game?"

"Oh, it gets worse. The Alliance was waiting for someone else to show up. Take a guess who."

"Anderson," Ricky piped up. Alex shook his head.

"Shepard," Evon asked. Again, a no.

"Dude, just tell us," Jake said.

"Tillman, you know this," Alex said, almost smirking. "Albert Wesker."

"No way," Tillman breathed. "Wesker? Like, dodges bullets and catches rockets with his hands Wesker?"

"That's the one," Alex told him. Tillman was left speechless.

"Wait," Ricky said, suddenly nervous. "What do you mean "dodges bullets"?"

"Dodges bullets," Tillman answered. "It's exactly like it sounds. You shoot him, he just goes into slow-mo and dodges them. Like the Matrix!" Ricky stood there, a slack-jawed expression on his face underneath his helmet.

"What did Wesker do?" Jake asked, trying to keep the conversation moving.

"He basically told me to abandon the job," Alex said. "Then he left, and next thing I knew, I'm waking up on the floor of Art's apartment."

"Ok then," Jake said slowly, thinking about what to do. "I'm beginning to take this job more seriously." He looked at his friends gathered around him. " I want everyone to get some sleep except for one of us on guard duty, which will be me for a while. Tomorrow, I want you and you," he pointed to Timmy and Ricky," to go check out the place where Art's friend lived. I'll get a name and address tomorrow. Maybe we can find some other clue as to what we're dealing with here."

"What about Joseph?" Evon asked. "One of us should watch over him just in case he wakes up."

"That's a good point," Jake replied. "I hadn't thought of that. But since you did..." He smiled, his expression oddly unnerving. "It might as well be you."

"Evon hung his head. "Damn it," he muttered. Jake jerked a thumb over his shoulder, pointing towards the door. Evon shuffled out of the room looking depressed as Ricky quietly chuckled in a corner. Once Evon had left for the Fury, Jake addressed the group.

"Alright, now get some sleep. We're gonna have a long, boring day to get through tomorrow." The rest of Echo almost ran back to the living room and leapt into a couch or chair, eager to finally get some rest. Jake wandered into the kitchen and grabbed himself some water of his own. _Oh, it's going to be a REALLY long ass day._

* * *

Alex spun around, retracting his hidden blades at the same time. He walked a few paces away before turning to face Timmy.

"Again," he stated. Timmy nodded respectfully. Alex took a calming breath, letting out a slow exhale as he looked at the floor of the apartment. His determined gaze snapped forward, prepared for another round. He jolted his arms down, deploying his blades, and dashed towards Timmy. The hand to hand combat expert deftly sidestepped the opening swipe to use his left arm to jab at Alex's back. Alex brought his right arm up as he rotated towards his duel opponent. He pinned Timmy's arm in between his bicep and torso faster than Timmy could anything do about it.

Alex tried to break the arm in a way that could have dislocated it from the shoulder, but Timmy managed to slide back and escape. The two were left staring at each other, wary of both attacking and being attacked. Art and the remaining Echo members were gathered in the kitchen, watching the fight.

"Those two are going at it pretty hard," Art remarked.

"Ah, they'll be fine," Ricky told him. "They do this pretty often."

"And nobody ever gets hurt," Jake interjected. "Just if you're worried about that. See, they only fight up until one of them yields."

"Who do you think will win?" Art asked.

"Ninja, hands down," Tillman instantly said. "I don't think he's ever lost to any of us."

Timmy grabbed one of Alex's arms and used it to throw Alex over his head. Alex landed flat on his back with Timmy on top of him, blade pointed threateningly close to his throat. Alex looked Timmy right in the eyes as best he could through their helmets.

"Again," he said. Timmy got off him, allowing him to stand up. The second he was on his feet, Alex made a wild slice at Timmy. Timmy ducked low to the floor and swept his foot around him in a circular motion. This knocked Alex off his feet and he found himself on the floor again, Timmy poised to deliver a killing strike.

"Again," Alex said. Timmy watched him stand up and walk a short distance away. Alex retracted his weapons as he turned to face Timmy, his stance defiant. With a guttural yell, Alex charged at Timmy, hoping to tackle him to the floor. Timmy waited until Alex was too close to change course or stop, then dodged to the side and stuck out an arm at head height. Alex was clotheslined spectacularly, doing a full backflip before landing hard on the floor. Timmy was on him again, waiting to see what he'd do. Alex stared into his friend's visor, panting heavily, before coming to a decision.

"I...yield," he muttered. Timmy immediately helped a tired Alex to his feet with a pat on the back while the audience cheered.

"That's a new record," Tillman called out. "You've never gotten your ass whupped 34 times before!" Art stared at Alex, a slack-jawed expression on his face.

"How did you have the energy to fight for that long?" Art asked. "That's incredible!"

"I'm just part krogan," Alex joked.

"Ah, don't listen to him," Jake chuckled. "It's probably from the fact that we've been in here the whole freaking day!"

"Ghost," Timmy called as he sat down on the arm of a couch. Jake looked over at his friend as the noise level died down. "It's almost 4 o' clock in the afternoon."

"Yeah?" Jake replied. "So?"

"You mentioned last night we would check out that apartment belonging to Art's friend. Don't you think we should do that?" Jake stared blankly ahead for a few moments, trying to remember.

"Shit, I forgot," he exclaimed, now recalling the night before. "Well, I suppose you're right. Let's get-" The sound of glass breaking was suddenly heard from the kitchen. All heads snapped towards the room in question, instantly suspicious. Jake cautiously took his shotgun off the back of his waist and aimed it towards the kitchen doorway.

The rest of the squad did the same, ready for an ambush. Timmy moved in front of Art and slowly backed him into the nearest room while the others began moving forward towards the kitchen. Jake stepped inside the cooking area, checking every nook and cranny as Ricky, Tillman, and Alex followed him. Aside from a smashed wine glass on the floor, the room was clear. Jake's gaze swept over everything before he lowered his weapon.

"Area's clear," he called out. "A glass fell over, that's all." He put his Katana shotgun on his waist, relaxed.

"Yeah, nothing on thermals," Ricky agreed.

"As I was saying," Jake continued, "let's get a couple guys over to the place. It was that slummy place in Bachjret Ward, if I'm right." Alex took a couple steps back from Jake.

"No way in hell am I going out again," he said hurridly. "Last time that happened, I had people hitting me with stun batons."

"I never said you were," Jake calmly replied . "Ricky, Timmy, you go." The two mercs began heading out the door when Jake opened a private RIGlink with them.

"Be careful, you two. I don't need another one of you going MIA, let alone a second."

"Relax, mom," Ricky said mockingly. "We'll be fine. Keep bugging us though, and I'll send my ninja after you." Jake smiled, even though no one could see it.

"What chance does have a ninja have against a ghost?" he asked. Before Ricky or Timmy could reply, Jake closed the link. The pair looked at each other with a shrug before moving on towards the apartment of Art's friend.

* * *

Timmy slowly approached the door leading to the apartment of Art's friend. He glanced down the hall, wary of the lone human male rummaging around in a trash pile. He was most likely just a vagrant, but it paid to be cautious. Ricky quickly brushed past Timmy, bumping his shoulder against his armored friend. Timmy switched his gaze towards the Echo member.

"We're trying to be inconspicuous here," Timmy informed him.

"Ah, conspicuous, shmonspicuous," Ricky retorted. "We get in, we get out, bada bing, bada boom, we're done." He stood next to the door panel and opened his omni-tool.

"It won't be that simple, you know." Ricky unleashed an overload burst on the panel, sending a cascade of electrical sparks to the floor. He turned to look at Timmy as the door slid open.

"It's always simple," he said. Ricky waltzed inside the apartment like he owned the place while Timmy had his pistol in his hand as he followed, just in case he needed it. Ricky made a beeline for the small kitchen, eager to find some food. Timmy allowed his friend to do whatever he wanted, Ricky would just get in the way otherwise.

Timmy stepped over into the other side room of the apartment, and was surprised to find only a desk with a single datapad on it. There was the small entryway, the kitchen, and this room, nothing else. Not even a bathroom. Timmy leaned close to the desk, his eyes picking up every detail. The thin layer of dust covering the desk insinuated the fact that the place hadn't been touched for months.

"Damn it," Ricky yelled out abruptly. "All this food is covered in mold! It's disgusting!" Timmy glanced in Ricky's direction for a brief moment. That just furthered the notion Timmy had developed. He reached out his hand and picked up the datapad on the table, the dust on it drifting back down towards the desk. Timmy tapped the power button, and the unit displayed only a few lines of text on-screen.

"Sturge. Change in C-Sec informant meeting place. Warehouse #14 on Zakera Ward, now known as SRPA 214. Emergency meeting involving AW, SV, MR, JS, and P at SRPA 5, 08:15. Be there." Timmy quickly read and memorized the information before checking the rest of the datapad's files. Unfortunately, aside from the single message, the 'pad held no files whatsoever. Made sense really, seeing as how the place had been abandoned quite some time ago.

"Ricardo," Timmy suddenly said, placing the datapad back down. Ricky poked his head out from around the kitchen's doorframe.

"Can we go?" he asked. "There's no food here, and I'm hungry."

"Yeah, we're leaving," Timmy replied. "We've got ourselves a new destination to check out." Ricky let out a grossly over-exaggerated sigh, but he did follow Timmy out the door. Timmy's thoughts were focused like a laser beam. There was something definitely going on here, and it was big enough to involve C-Sec informants. That fact alone showed that SRPA was serious about protecting their anonymity from the public, unlike Cerberus. No one had heard of them really, and it seemed like they were determined to keep it that way. Well, Timmy was equally determined to figure out what was going on, and he would, one way or another.

* * *

I awoke to a the ceiling of a dimly lit room, but even with the lighting as low as it was, it still hurt my eyes. I tried to sit up to get my bearings on where I was, but my skin practically screamed with pain, forcing me to let myself fall back onto the bed I was in. And then the lights snapped back to normal. Overwhelmed by the burning sensation on my skin and the intense light, I just gave up and cried out as I covered my face with my hands. I heard a door open and somebody run over next to me as I laid there moaning in agony.

"Oh _shit_," said the person. "Damn, what do I do, what do I do..."

"How about turn off the fucking lights?" I mumbled, my eyes still closed and covered.

"TRON! Why'd you even turn on the lights?" I could tell that the room was in complete darkness suddenly, the lights had automatically switched off by themselves. "No, you stupid machine! Now I can't see anything!" There was a moment's pause before words were spoken again. "Well, better than being blind." I cracked my eyes open just a tiny bit to see the unmistakable face of Evon leaning over me. I glanced around to find out where I was, and saw the Fury's medical instruments blinking back at me. _So that's where I am, the med-bay._

"Ok," I said flatly. "Why am I here?" I paused for a moment, then reconsidered my question. "Actually, a better question would be how did I get here, since the pain tells me why."

"Uhh...," Evon said unhelpfully, a blank expression on his face. I stared at him in the darkness until he finally said something. "Well, Jake found you in a crater-"

"What?" I said incredulously.

"I should probably just have Jake to talk to you, he'd explain this better." He started to walk away, heading towards the door.

"Hey, let's talk about this," I called out. Evon kept going. "Evon! Don't you dare-" He walked out the open door and closed it behind him, leaving me alone. I sighed as I looked back up at the bland, undecorated ceiling. _Great, stuck in the medical bay, no knowledge of how I got here, in too much pain to move anything more than my head...I swear to God, if a necromorph shows up- _My train of thought jolted to a halt with an involuntary shudder. I had once thought I had gotten over my fear of those monsters. The first time I got the game, I played it until the lights in a hallway shut off in the first level and I heard a pipe get knocked over. I quit the game and didn't have the guts to play it until two years later, but I eventually did beat it, and then its sequal. But then they showed up for real, and I realized the true terror behind them.

My school wasn't like Fortune City in Dead Rising 2. There weren't weapons scattered all over the place to use. The worst I could have done was fight with a pair of scissors. And I wasn't dealing with shambling zombies either, no, far from it. These were creatures bred to kill. I was amazed that my friends and I had survived for as long as we did actually. With the amount of students on campus, there should have been a much larger amount of necros, but we lucked out apparently. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind of those thoughts. It had been years since I had seen those...demons, and I wasn't going to anytime soon. If anything, they would have shown up on Mt. Ishimura a couple years ago.

The door opened again and Evon walked in, his omni-tool activated. All disturbing thoughts were pushed to the side as he came up close to me.

"Alright, Jake," he said. "You're a go."

"Joseph?" Jake's voice emanated from Evon's omni-tool, allowing me to talk with him.

"I'm here," I replied. "Why aren't you?"

"Well..." He sounded oddly nervous. "We're on that protection gig on the Citadel."

"And you didn't wake me up for it? I'm hurt, Jake."

"Yeah, well, I didn't think you should be moving after I found you in a crater the size of six blocks." There was a moment's pause as I took in the information.

"How big?" I asked, stunned.

"You heard me. Listen, we can have an in-depth discussion about it later, I'm busy right now."

"Busy doing what?" I said, pressing the issue.

"Leading Ninja and Ricardo into enemy territory-look, I'm really busy, I'll talk to you later."

"Nonono-" He disconnected. Evon shut down his omni-tool and looked at me rather lamely.

"Sorry," he said. "It's been busy lately."

"Then fill me in," I said, but it was more of a demand than a request. "I've got the time."

* * *

"I repeat, ARE. YOU. IN. POSITION?"

"Ghost," Ninja whispered into his helmet microphone. "Please be quiet."

"What he said," Ricardo muttered. The two mercenaries were crouched behind a conveniently placed pile of crates on the upper levels of a warehouse walkway, overlooking the group of SRPA people gathered below. The man Alex identified as Albert Wesker was standing almost serenly at the head of the plainclothesed group, his hands behind his back. The rest of the men were arranged behind him, all holding assault rifles, yet looking like they belonged in the Presidium.

"I'm still surprised we made it up here without encountering any guards," Ricardo said, not moving at all. "You'd think for such a secret group, they'd have at least posted somebody on the way up here."

"It's talk like that that'll jinx you," Ghost said over the comm. "You guys'll be fine, relax. It's just recon."

"I get the feeling that every time we think something'll go according to plan, it screws up masterfully." Ninja, using the built-in zoom function in his helmet, noticed one of the men downstairs turn his head in the direction of the walkway. He touched Ricardo's shoulder to get his attention, and slowly ducked under the line of sight between him and the ground. A few moments passed before quiet voices were heard, hopefully meaning somebody new had arrived. Ninja poked his head back over the boxes and saw a man in a black cloak striding purposefully towards the men below. Ninja upped the directional sensitivity on his external mic to pick up the hushed conversation.

Albert casually turned his head to the right to see who was approaching, and looked genuinely surprised when he saw the cloaked figure. "Praxis," he said. "This is a pleasant surprise."

"Intervention is required here," came the response, the voice radiating pure power and authority. "I'll take over here." Wesker frowned in confusion.

"Sir? I've been the one meeting him for years, why-"

"Orders, Wesker. Besides, I have a much more important item for you to handle." Praxis, as he was apparently known, reached inside his cloak and withdrew a syringe from it. Albert let out a small gasp before quickly donning his impenetrable expression once more.

"Is this-"

"Project Redfield," Praxis finished. "Ready for you, and only you." He handed the syringe to Wesker. "You know what to do." Wesker accepted the syringe, and then quickly walked off the same way Praxis entered. Ricardo glanced over at Ninja with a shrug, asking what just happened. Ninja had no answers. Praxis faced the same way Albert did orginally, and waited. The minutes ticked by as the two Echo members stayed hidden from SRPA.

After ten minutes or so, a door slid open on the far side of the warehouse, in front of Praxis. Praxis stared at the newcomer as he walked inside. Ninja trained his eyesight on the new arrival. The new guy looked like an average human, nothing special about him. Except for the C-Sec uniform he was wearing. Ninja narrowed his eyes when the officer began to act incredibly nervous upon seeing Praxis.

"You...you're not Albert," the officer stammered.

"No," Praxis admitted. "You're speaking to the head of our operation." The officer was beginning to sweat, the beads of liquid rolling down his face.

"Well, uhh...I did what you asked."

"Did you now?" The poor C-Sec man quivered in fear. _Why is this man so afraid? _Ninja thought.

"Ye-yes. Your Alliance contact was helpful in loading your, uhh..."

"Null cannon?" Praxis offered helpfully. The officer nodded rapidly. "Good," Praxis said. "Well, regretfully, that is all we required." The officer's eyes widened in shock.

"Wha-"

"Though you have been most helpful over the years." Praxis raised his right hand and gently patted the C-Sec informant on the shoulder, but left his hand there. The officer glanced at Praxis's hand. Its metal covered appearance was quite intimidating. The officer looked back up into Praxis's eyes.

"Can I leave?" he asked. Praxis said nothing, just stared back into the officer with a penetrating gaze. The C-Sec man suddenly collapsed to the floor, unmoving. Praxis glanced down at the body before turning back to his men.

"Deploy the charges," he said. "We leave no evidence." His men saluted him, then raced off to the edges of the warehouse. Praxis slowly looked around the room, scanning the walkways above. Ninja and Ricardo ducked down under their cover to ensure they went undetected.

"Unit 29 and Wesker," Praxis suddenly shouted, his voice echoing around the room. "You can go now." Ninja glanced over at Ricardo and was shocked to see one of the SRPA men materialize from thin air behind him, assault rifle almost touching Echo 4's head. _Shoulda picked that up on radar or thermal- _The barrel of a weapon tapped the side of Ninja's helmet, forcing him to slowly turn around. He was greeted by the sight of Albert Wesker, his face calm as always.

"Stand up please," Wesker asked. "And don't try anything." Ninja slowly stood up, poised to strike. Both he and Ricardo placed their hands behind their heads first, and then struck as one. Ricardo delivered a swift throat punch to the man next to him while Ninja kicked Wesker backward. Albert stumbled back slightly as Ninja landed on his back, drawing his pistol. Ninja quickly took aim and fired as Wesker looked on, his face finally showing some actual expression.

Faster than a person could blink however, Ninja's gun was knocked out of his hands, and Wesker was on top of him. Ninja was stunned.

"That should have killed you," he breathed. Albert said nothing, he simply yanked Ninja to his feet and pulled out a set of handcuffs from a coat pocket, slapping them on the Echo member. Ricardo didn't even try going for a gun after he saw what just happened. Wesker beckoned him along, and he followed obediently, heading down towards Praxis.

The Echo mercenaries were seated back to back on a crate, handcuffs now on both of them. Praxis looked over at Albert, intrigued.

"Nice to see it works," he said.

"The injection process is not one I would enjoy repeating again," Wesker replied. "But with my new...abilities, it was worth it." Praxis turned his attention to his captives.

"Dead Echo," he began. "Numbers 4 and 6. Ricky Galvan and Timothy Ta. You've been most effective so far, but your mission ends here." One of the men ordered to plant explosives returned, saluting Praxis as he approached.

"Sir. All charges set and ready for detonation." Praxis nodded his approval before returning to the prisoners.

"Your interference cannot be tolerated any longer. Mr. Rodriguez knows far too much about us, and he must be eliminated for that."

"He barely knows anything," Ricardo suddenly exclaimed. "There's no need for this!" Praxis turned his cold stare to Echo 4. Even just looking at someone was unnerving.

"The fact that he knows of our existence is too much. We have not stayed hidden for decades, only to have our work destroyed by a musician." Praxis looked at Wesker. "Accelerate the plan. We move ASAP."

"Yes sir," came the response. Praxis began walking out of the building, Wesker following him. The SRPA personnel took one final look around the room, then filed out, one by one. Ninja watched them leave, but the last one he took special notice of. The final man held up a detonator in his hand as he left. Just before he walked out the door, he hit the button.

The charges scattered around the building exploded, causing Echo 4 and 6 to flinch. A few moments passed with their eyes closed before they realized they weren't dead yet. Ricardo looked up and saw the walls alight in flame, burning everything they touched.

"Oh, great," he yelled, standing up. "Perfect. What the hell is this, the Last Crusade?"

"What's that?" Timmy asked.

"You've never seen the third Indy movie?" Ricky asked, astonished. Timmy shook his head.

"If we get out of here, I'm showing you that..." Timmy tried opening a RIGlink with the rest of his team, but all he got was static. _Local comms only, must have been something they did._

"No good on comms," he informed Ricky.

"And we're stuck in a burning building with handcuffs. This isn't familiar at _all._" Timmy ran over and tried activating the door SRPA left through. Again, no luck. The fire was spreading by now, getting closer to the two friends. Timmy rapidly spun around, searching for any ground floor exit. The only one there was ended up buried in rubble and flames, remnants of the walkway above it.

"Timmy?" The man in question turned towards his friend. "I love you, man."

Timmy frowned. "We're getting out of this, Ricky. The cavalry always-" A wall blew open, one that had yet to be afflicted by fire around it. It was an opening to outside, and Echo took it. They ran outside, ecstatic to be free from what might have been their deathtrap. They didn't show it though.

"Well, that was fun," Ricky said nonchalantly.

"You've got a funny sense of humor," Timmy laughed.

"C-SEC," a younger sounding voice shouted. "FREEZE!" Both Timmy and Ricky hung their heads.

"Ah, shit," Ricky said quietly. They looked down the opposite way from the burning warehouse and saw two C-Sec officers sprinting towards them with weapons drawn, one blond human, one turian.

"Oh, great," Ricky commented. "Even bigger shit." Detectives Ian Shaw and Garrus Vakarian ran up with their pistols trained on the two Echo members.

"Haha, we finally got you," Garrus crowed. No way you're getting out of this one, criminal scum!" Ian nodded in agreement.

"Actually," Ricky began. "This time, I swear it wasn't us."

"Bull. Shit," Ian stated flatly. "We have you at the scene of the crime, and it's lucky we were on our way here too. We might have actually missed you both."

"Now to just get some cuffs on these guys," Garrus said eagerly.

"Hold on, guys," Timmy interjected. "First off all-" He turned around to show that he was already handcuffed. "Someone beat you to it. Second, we have proof it wasn't us that set this place on fire."

"Uhh...we do?" Ricky asked. Timmy looked at him.

"Video, remember?" he said, tilting his head to the side.

"Oh yeah..."

"Listen," Garrus demanded. "I don't care if someone cuffed you already, it just makes my job easier-"

"You said you had proof?" Garrus looked over at Ian, obviously surprised.

"Ian, what are you doing? We have these guys at the scene of the crime!"

"I'm sorry, Garrus, but we're detectives. If they have proof to offer, then we have to look at it. But..." He looked over at Timmy, smiling. "That doesn't mean we can't arrest them though."

Ricky let out a little noise resembling a mouse squeak. Timmy decided to take a stand however.

"We're still perfectly capable of fighting back, even with our hands bound."

"Look, Garrus! Resisting arrest!" No, this wasn't going to plan at all.

"No," Timmy said patiently. "Just...look, I'll cut you a deal." Ian leaned back, smiling, while Garrus was getting more and more annoyed. "My team's in an apartment guarding someone who paid us to do so. If I take you there and we all discuss the evidence first, then I'll let you take us." He glanced over at Ricky. "All of us."

"The whole team?" Ian inquired. Timmy nodded. Without waiting for approval from Garrus, Ian accepted. "Done," he said. Garrus looked over at him, mouth open in outrage, but Ian spoke before he could. "Garrus, we get the whole team. That's worth it in my book."

"Ian, it could be a trap! We've dealt with that a couple times, it's not impossible!"

"You're right," Ian admitted. "But these mercs have had plenty of chances to kill us before, I'm doubting they'll do it now. I don't really want to do this, but it's too good of an opportunity to pass up." Timmy turned to start walking away, still handcuffed.

"Follow me then," he told the detectives.

**Author's Note: Alright, I apologize for the long delay, and I hope it was worth the wait. Now, I must unfortunately tell you you'll have to wait a minimum of 15 days to wait for the next one. I'm leaving in less than 9 hours to travel up to Northern Michigan for vacation with family. I was afraid I wouldn't even get this chapter out in time... But, I will return, plus I will have my handy-dandy iPhone on me, so I can still update my profile at least. So check there daily just in case I've updated it so you can see what crazy stuff I'm doing, like catching catfish with my bare hands, finding dead snapping turtles, or riding jet-skis! Plus Twitter, I'll update that too. Also, to the one guy I can call vod, think Cuy'val Dar. It's close to that anyway...**


	18. Skycar Chase

**Author's Note: I am back! It was crazy, my dad even ended up on the front page of the newspaper while we were there. Whew, fun stuff... I'll post the story on my profile in the next day or two, but I spent all day writing this and I don't want to type any more than I have to. But here you are, enjoy!**

December 11th, 2182 20:13

Praxis stepped through the front door of the Hahne-Kedar corporate offices on the Citadel. The asari receptionist looked up as he came in, startled by his appearance.

"How may I help you, sir?" she asked after regaining her composure.

"Praxis to see Mr. Stahl." The asari checked her computer terminal for appointments, her fingers flying over the haptic interface with precision. A few moments later, she stared at Praxis again.

"Go right in, sir." Praxis brushed past her without even thanking her, quickly entering one of the many elevators behind the reception desk. The asari watched him leave before returning to her terminal. _Jerk._

Praxis waited for the doors to close before he glanced up at the corners of the lift. There was a small security camera set to monitor everyone who entered the small space. With a small snort of disgust, Praxis waved a hand in its direction. Even though he couldn't see it, he knew the camera had just shut down, its signal disrupted. Then, without any buttons being presed, the elevator burst into motion, heading skyward. Praxis stood motionless as the lift heading towards its destination.

The elevator slowed to a stop with a small jolt, the doors opening an instant later. Praxis stepped out into an executive office built for luxury. Three of the four walls were made entirely of glass, allowing the room's occupants to look out over the entirety of the Citadel's Wards. A man was standing in front of one of the windows, quietly smoking a cigarette. A large desk dominated the middle of the room, two highbacked chairs placed in front of it. One of the chairs was filled, slicked back blond hair poking out over the top of it. The person rose upon hearing the lift doors open, turning to face Praxis.

"Glad you could make it," Wesker said, a look of professionalism on his face.

"Ah, Albert," Praxis replied. "Just the man I wanted to see." Praxis reached into his cloak and pulled out an envelope. "I need you to give this to Radec, who in turn needs to give it to the Admiral." Wesker took it without question, depositing it in his coat. "It's authorization for a possible ICBM launch at one of our facilities," Praxis explained. "Oh, and double check with the turians about retrieving the Red one from that colony of theirs. We need to transfer it to the Aegis system." Wesker nodded as he sat back down in his chair, Praxis doing the same.

"Now," Praxis said. "Are you ready to begin, Jorhan?" The man standing by the window turned around and sat down in his chair on the other side of the desk, still smoking his cigarette.

"As always, Praxis..."

* * *

Timmy approached the door to the "safehouse", the place where Art and the rest of Dead Echo were. He paused, wondering how the others would handle this.

"If this is a trap..." The voice from behind made Timmy turn around. Garrus and Ian stood side by side, hands hovering near the pistols on their belts.

"It's ok," Timmy said, trying to calm their nerves. "I just don't know how the others will react to me bringing C-Sec right to them."

"You try anything, and we'll have you in a cell faster than you can even think about it," Garrus warned.

"Whatever you say," Ricky muttered. "But let's get on with this. Uncuff me so I can type in the code."

"I don't think I'll set you two free," Ian said. "Too much of a risk. Why don't you tell me the entrance code?"

"Aww, you don't trust us?" Ricky asked. Garrus fixed his gaze upon Ricky, the avian-like eyes unnerving him. "Uhh...ok. 324756." Ian punched in the numbers on the panel right next to the door, and the group was allowed access. The door slid open to reveal Echo sitting in the living room, talking to each other. Their heads snapped to look at the movement by the door though, and unfortunately, Ian and Garrus were in standing in the doorway, Timmy and Ricky behind them in handcuffs.

The mercenaries leapt to their feet, whipping out their pistols as the detectives did the same. Everybody started shouting at each other, exclaiming surprise and anger. Nobody could hear what the others were saying until Timmy's voice shouted out.

"HOLD IT!" Everyone quieted down, but the weapons were still pointed at one another.

"What the hell's going on?" Jake asked, a hint of ice in his voice.

"Calm down," Timmy said passively, trying to stay relaxed. "It's alright, they're friendly." He glanced at the pair. "For now."

"Why'd you bring C-Sec to our doorstep?"

"Because we cut a deal," Ian interrupted as he holstered his weapon. Timmy took note of that. _Good way to diffuse the tension, show that you aren't going to shoot._

"What deal?" Jake continued, refusing to back down.

"Ghost, can we talk inside?" Ricky begged. "Please? Someone'll come by and see this, then we'll have even more C-Sec guys on us." Jake didn't move for a few moments before he backed down, lowering his weapon.

"Let 'em in," he said. Jake didn't put his pistol away though, Timmy noticed that. The two C-Sec men and mercenaries shuffled into the apartment awkwardly, unsure of what to do exactly.

"We were just talking with Flynn and Thunder," Jake explained. Ian glanced around the room, counting the number of people inside.

"Yeah, you do seem to be missing a couple guys," he commented. "What happened, they get the day off?" Jake slowly turned to face the detective, his helmet giving off a very intimidating aura.

"No," he said calmly. Somehow, that fake calm was more intimdating than if Jake was angry. "Thunder's badly injured, Flynn's with him."

"Oh, wow," Ian replied. "What happened?"

"Explosion." There was a pause before Ian spoke again.

"That's it? Explosion? Where was this explosion."

"...New York." Ian's eyes widened in surprise.

"New York? That huge blast that happened a few days ago?"

"That's the one."

"Why were you there?" Garrus asked. Nobody said a word. "You...did you set off that explosion?" More silence. Garrus threw up his hands in disbelief. "Spirits! You did, didn't you? Do you have any idea how many lives have been lost? You have the blood of over a thousand people on your hands! The death toll is higher every day!" All the mercs lowered their heads in shame. Garrus shook his head. "How can you even live with yourself?" Ian stared on, dumbstruck by the revelation. The greatest terrorist attack in recent history, and it was caused by the men right in front of him.

"As I was saying," Jake exclaimed, switching the subject abruptly, "Thunder's back. He's doing ok, still sore from the burns, but Flynn says he'll be back to normal eventually." Jake glanced at Ricky and Timmy. "No...special side-effects from the blast."

"Can we backtrack a bit here?" Ian asked. "Maybe go back to the accusation of your group killing over a thousand people?"

"I'll have Thunder speak through my RIG," Jake said, ignoring any discussion about New York. There was a slight pause before Joseph's voice came out of Jake's helmet.

"Hello?"

"They hear you, Thunder," Jake told him.

"Oh, good. So...Ian. Garrus. Nice to see-hear you're still around."

"Thunder, is it true you blew up New York?" Ian asked, getting straight to the point.

"Umm...ok. I'm going to promise you something."

"Alright."

"We take care of business here and now, deal with the task at hand, then I'll tell you about the New York job. Ok? Every detail you want." Ian pretended to mull it over, even though he already knew his decision.

"Fine," he informed them. "As long as you do tell us."

"Alright, I will. Now, Ninja, I'm told that Albert Wesker's popped up around here."

"Affirmative," came the response. "Ajax had a run in with him, and then I just did. I can confirm that he does have super speed."

"Super speed?" Ian asked.

"Save all questions until the end," Jake told him. "You might have a lot."

"We also encountered a man named Praxis," Timmy continued. "He killed a C-Sec informant just by touching him."

"Noted," Joseph said. "Ajax, what about Colonel Radec?"

"You mean Lieutenant Commander Radec," Alex corrected him. "He likes his official title. He's working with Wesker in this secret group."

"What's the name of this group?"

"It's called SRPA," Ricky said. There was a sharp intake of breath on Joseph's end.

"How do you spell it?" he asked quickly.

"S-R-P-A."

"God. Someone's got a great sense of humor. The Special-"

"The Special Research and Projects Administration." The menacing voice emanated from everyone's helmet speakers. Timmy and Ricky visibly stiffened, but everyone else was simply bewildered.

"Who is this?" Joseph demanded. "You were the one that ordered me to set off that bomb in New York. I want answers!"

"His name's Praxis," Timmy yelled out. "He was the guy who's Wesker's leader." The voice chuckled.

"Very good. But worthless information. I'm only here to tell you that your current operation will fail. Arturo Rodriguez will die."

"You can't touch him," Alex retorted. "You aren't even here."

"Am I?" Praxis's voice disappeared, and with it, Joseph's signal. Long range communications were cut, just like in the warehouse. As the detectives and mercs wondered what was going on, SRPA decided to reveal itself. From within the apartment itself, eight heavily armored men materialized from thin air, their advanced cloaking devices turned off. They had silver-grey armor, and their helmets incorporated some kind of gas mask into them. Echo burst into well-practiced manuevers, trying to take down the new contacts.

The walking tanks moved faster than they should have due to the amount of armor they had on. Ian and Garrus were both thrown into the kitchen by a single man, the enemy focused on the real threat. Timmy and Ricky were still handcuffed, and as such, were simply pushed over in the beginning of the attack. Jake tried to leap backward away from one of the SRPA agents, but landed in the arms of another. Jake was hoisted over the man's head, turned upside down, and slammed into the ground. The other two Echo members were failing miserably thanks to being outnumbered in close quarters.

Tillman was bashed against a wall, headfirst. He slumped down to the floor, either unconscious, or pretending to be to avoid more pain. Alex was punched in the face, knocking him to the floor. Even with his helmet on, it hurt. He turned to look up at the man who hit him, only to recieve a swift stomp aimed for his head. The force of the blow slammed his nose up against the inside of his helmet so hard, an audible crack was heard, along with a cry of pain. Seconds later, Art was forcibly removed from his room, slung over the shoulder of one of the agents. Two more SRPA men covered the exit, and Art was carried outside. The rest of them followed their companions as everyone was getting to their feet as fast as they could.

Ian and Garrus were the first ones out the room, chasing SRPA. Ghost looked back at his friends as he was about to leave. Necro was helping Ricardo and Ninja to their feet as Ajax ripped off his helmet and threw it to the floor, clutching his broken nose as blood streamed out of it. Necro glanced up and saw Ghost standing there. He pointed to the doorway.

"Get the hell out of here," he shouted. Ghost wasted no time in following that command. He turned and sprinted down the hallway, following the echoing footsteps of Ian and Garrus. Almost a minute later, he went around a corner and went flying backward as the detectives crashed into him, flying through the air for some reason. They quickly untangled themselves and got back up to continue pursuit. The hall in front of them led outside to the nearest landing platform, coincidentally where Garrus had parked the patrol car. A man in a black cloak was quickly walking to one of three waiting skycars.

"That guy's a biotic," Ian panted. "Threw us back when we got near the door."

"Didn't see a blue glow though," Garrus replied. The trio ran outside just as the cloaked figure closed the door of his vehicle and began rising into the sky, followed by the other two.

"Car's over here!" Garrus shouted. He ran off in the direction of a parked C-Sec patrol car, Ian and Ghost following him closely. The doors opened automatically as the group approached, Garrus leaping into the driver's seat. Ghost clambered into the back while Ian went around to the passenger side. Once everyone was inside, Garrus started driving off in pursuit as fast as he could. The skycar rocketed off the ground and followed after the three speeding vehicles.

"Dispatch, this is detective Ian Shaw," Ian spoke rapidly into the car's comm system. "We are in pursuit of an ongoing kidnapping-" The rooftop of a nearby exploded, the fireball shoving the patrol car to the side. "Damn it," Garrus exclaimed as he brought the patrol car back under control. Ghost looked behind him out the rear window to look at the blast site, only to notice dozens of other little fireballs popping up throughout the ward.

"Listen, we need some backup right away," Ian shouted. "Can you get any other units on my location?"

"Negative, negative," came the response, fast and anxious. "We've got small explosions going off all around the Citadel, we need all units to handle those. You're on your own." The dispatch officer cut the link, suddenly busy to deal with sending out backup. Ian slapped the dashboard with his hand.

"Fuck," he shouted. "What do you bet those other explosions are a diversion?"

"I'd bet my life on it," Garrus grunted as he made a sharp turn. "These guys mean serious business." The skycars stayed below the tops of the buildings, zooming through like some insane racecars. One of the three SRPA ones suddenly pulled up and slowed down, moving behind the patrol car. Ghost turned to watch it and was shocked to see what looked like weapons mounted on the underside.

"Sorry about this," he said quickly, causing Ian to turn around and look. Ghost drew his sniper rifle and fired a random shot through the back window, creating an assortment of small spiderweb-like cracks. He then took the butt of his weapon and hammered it into the window, shattering the glass. The fragments went flying out the back, and wind was suddenly tearing at their clothes and armor. Ghost looked through his sniper scope after raising it above the small lip of the propulsion drive, trying to line up a good shot as both cars were moving back and forth, dodging buildings and other cars.

"That's impossible," Ian shouted over the noise of the wind. "You'll never make that shot!" Ghost tuned him out and focused on his target. The windshield was most likely bulletproof, so he'd go for his next tactic. He scanned the rear of the car for his objective, a small cable that was almost invisible located inside the car's body. Towards the rear however, there was an opening only a few millimeters wide that allowed air to cool some components, and inside that hole, was the power line to the vehicle. Sever that, and the skycar goes out of control.

Ghost finally found it by looking just above the driver's side of the car. He poured all his focus into this shot, time seemed to slow down as he looked through the scope. Settling on his target, he breathed in, and then out. Then he fired. The skycar had no kinetic barriers fortunately. Only the rich and paranoid did. The bullet somehow managed to graze the top of the skycar and fly straight and true into the miniscule space. The force behind the round ripped the cable in two, instantly sending the SRPA car into a nosedive. Ghost turned around and looked at Ian.

"What was that? I didn't hear you!" Ian rolled his eyes then turned back to the chase. The two cars left were weaving back and forth, but Ghost could see the back of Art's head in one of the cars. Ghost sighed.

"I'm gonna have to take out that other car too," he yelled.

"How the hell are you going to do that?" Garrus asked. Ghost glanced back out the rear of the vehicle. _Great._ He inched out through the broken window feet first, the tips of his boots catching on the lip of the back section of the patrol car. Ian watched him do this, aghast.

"You're gonna kill yourself," he called out.

"I'll be fine." Ghost looked up towards the roof of the vehicle, the flashing C-Sec lights catching his eye. _I'm insane for even thinking about this. _Ghost slowly reached up until he could wrap a hand around one of them, which he did. He then pulled himself up onto the roof of the vehicle, while still clutching the light fixture. Crouching, he raised his rifle scope to his eye, trying to hold it steady with one hand. He aimed at the back of the skycar that didn't have his client in it. Killing his client would be a bad idea, generally speaking.

A jolt caused him to have to press himself against the roof of the car. _This isn't going to work. _The vehicle that Art was in suddenly opened its door while flying, drawing attention to itself. Ghost's eyes were fixed on the man in the cloak who looked out the car at them, then poked his head back in. Then he jumped out. Garrus was driving so fast that the man was airborne for less than a second, and even then, he didn't fall at all. The cloak slapped against the windshield of the patrol car, blocking Garrus's view. The man looked up at Ghost, who's helmet prevented his astonished expression from being seen.

"Give my regards to your companions," he shouted. Then he stuck a small rectangular box to the windshield and leaped at Ghost. Ghost was tackled off the car by none other than Praxis, and he could do nothing more than hold on to the man for dear life. But instead of falling, they seemed to be moving almost horizontally. Ghost couldn't see how that was possible, but he was thankful he wasn't slamming into the ground. Until he got close to the ground anyway.

When he was five feet away from solid ground, Praxis kicked Ghost off him. Ghost, instead of falling, hovered in the air for the moment before he was flung like a ragdoll into the floor. He laid there quietly for a few minutes, catching his breath, before another skycar pulled up and landed next to him, this time, the familiar X3M his team used. Necro hopped out and pulled Ghost to his feet.

"What happened to you?" Necro asked.

"Got flung off Ian's car," Ghost replied, groaning. "It wasn't fun." As if speaking his name summoned him, Ian and Garrus's patrol car drifted overhead, almost lazily. Upon catching sight of the group below, the vehicle went into a sharp descent and landed next to Ghost. Ian was the first one out, a disappointed expression on his face.

"What happened?" Ghost asked.

"That guy who landed on our car planted an easily disabled time bomb," Ian replied. "Problem was, it was on the windshield, so we had to land to get it off. By the time we did that, the other two cars were gone, so..."

"It's fine," Ghost lied. "We'll regroup with Thunder and Flynn, and plan our next course of action.

"Umm..." Ghost looked over at Necro.

"What is it?"

"Well...about Thunder..."

* * *

"You can't touch him," Alex retorted. "You aren't even here."

"Am I?" Praxis asked. Then the signal burst into static. Evon tried to get the signal back by resetting the link, but it was worthless.

"Must be something on their end," Evon mused.

"They can't be jammed forever," I said, laying in my bed in the med-lab. Every part of me was still sore, it felt like I had a really bad sunburn all over my body.

"What makes you think they've been jammed?"

"Come on, it's obvious! Praxis comes on the line and then we lose our RIGlink? He just doesn't want us talking."

"I guess that makes sense..."

"Well, we can't do anything, so...why don't you tell me about how Alex thinks it was the Ray Sphere from inFamous that blew me up?" Evon barked out a short laugh.

"That was a funny discussion. He was going on about how it all pointed to the so-called Sphere, and how you'd probably have some kind of powers when you woke up."

"Sometimes I question that boy's sanity... I feel fine though. Except for the pain. But no powers."

"If you say so."

"I do say so."

"Least I didn't get blown up."

"Hey, come on. That's not my fault." The Fury's medbay was plunged into darkness. "Umm...I hope that wasn't my fault."

"TRON," Evon called out. "Come on, lights on, buddy." The room stayed dark. "TRON?" Still nothing. "Wait here," Evon said with a sigh. He put his helmet on, and only his helmet, then set off outside the medical bay to go manually reset the systems from the bridge. I waited for about a minute before I began to get a little creeped out.

"TRON, you can turn the lights back on, you know." No change in lighting. "Damn AI. I honestly consider leaving you broken sometimes." I carefully climbed out of bed, trying to ignore my skin crying out in pain. I waddled over to the storage locker where my armor was placed when I was brought here and slipped it on. It hurt like a bitch, but now I had full access to my helmet systems. I placed my helmet on my head and twisted it to the side, securing it in place.

"Here we go," I said to myself. "Off into the darkness." I turned on the night vision filter in my helmet, and the walls were bathed in a green glow. "And God said, let there be light," I joked. I had a tendency to talk to myself when I was alone, it kept me entertained. I left the medbay and stood in the dark hallway. My old Dead Space fears started to come back, but I pushed them away. "If I hear a pipe fall though..."

I set off towards the bridge to find out why Evon was taking so long. I was about halfway there, walking slowly and monologuing to myself when I heard a whisper in my ear.

"It's been too long." I jumped, and the sudden movement killed my skin. I straightened up slowly and glanced behind me. There she was. Again.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" I sighed. "I mean, come on, Sydney. I think I've earned the right to have you FUCKING LEAVE ME ALONE."

"But I can't. I must call you to it." I glanced up and down the corridor, checking that no one was there.

"Ok, I get that. You're the Marker hallucination, and that I can deal with. But why you? I mean, you specifically. I don't care about you. Not after what happened."

"But you do. You know it." She flicked her short blonde hair out of her eyes.

"I just don't...I don't get it. Why does my mind make it you? And I'll be stuck with you forever because there is no Marker in this world, it was in mine. So I'm doomed to be annoyed by someone I don't care about, while you pretend to be all "Ooh, I'm so sexy" when in reality, you hated me. How the hell did this happen?" I contemplated my own question for a couple seconds before I simply just turned and walked away, leaving my hallucination in the darkness.

I made my way to the bridge and opened the door, expecting to see Evon working at a terminal. Instead, I was blinded because the lights were on here. I raised a hand to shield my eyes, and I heard a man's voice cry out.

"There he is!" I was roughly grabbed by at least three guys as they yanked my helmet off. I felt a needle slide into my neck and had enough time to think a few things. 1: I'm screwed. 2: How did this happen. 3: I'm screwed. As my eyesight returned to normal and I collapsed on the ground, I heard a whisper in my ear again.

"You should have stayed with me." _Even this is better than that. I think._

* * *

I woke up on the floor, my helmet on for some reason. Without moving, I used my eyes to see where I was. Blue lights, metal walls, Alliance logos everywhere, whoop-de-doo, Alliance base. My groggy mind then registered voices, and most, if not all, were familiar.

"You failed me."

"I apologize. It won't happen again."

"You're right." A sharp gunshot.

"Is it necessary to do that so often, Radec? It's an absolute pain to make these people disappear."

"I apologize."

"Of course you do. Now, did Echo actually retrieve Mr. Rodriguez?" That sounded like Praxis.

"Unfortunately, yes. But we still have their leader." That's Radec.

"Praxis, I recommend you get in touch with the project Okami director. This would be a good time to test the Null cannon." Wesker.

"Don't worry, it's all in place. Although..."

"What is it, sir?"

"Wesker..." Praxis's voice was much softer now, it was harder to hear. "I've begun hearing them. Angels."

"Everything's on schedule. We'll be fine."

"I hope we will be. Otherwise all this work will have been for nothing." There was a pause before the conversation picked up again.

"Echo's sure to come looking for their missing operative. Albert, I do believe it's time to go revisit our old Spencer estate. We can set a trap there, and then I have some work to do back at the one of the old experimental facilities in North America."

"Which one?"

"AI weaponry."

"Excellent choice," Radec said. "Also, here's the serum you requested of the salarians. It'll have the effect you discussed with the good doctor."

"Thank you. All of you standing here are instrumental in the effort to bring about galactic peace." I was listening intently at this point, but Praxis stepped into view, staring straight at me. He slowly bent down, and the whole time, only one thought was going through my head. _You don't know I'm awake. You don't know I'm awake. _He took out a small disc-shaped device and slapped it onto the chestplate of my armor. I resisted the urge to look down at it, but I figured out what it did pretty quickly. The electrical shocks knocked me unconscious in under a minute.

**Author's Note: I think the ending sucks in my opinion, but I needed to end it. I hope you enjoyed the return of Dead Echo!**


	19. Mortal Kombat!

**Author's Note: Ok, this took me way too long to write. Can you believe I actually started writing this last Monday? Sheesh... Anyway, the next heroic chapter in the DE saga.**

Praxis stood up from the limp form of Thunder. Albert was standing next to him, a neutral expression on his face.

"Do you think he fell for it?" Wesker asked.

"Oh, of course," Praxis replied. "Tell a person something when they're disoriented with no idea of how much time has passed, and they'll believe every word you say." He uncapped the syringe he was just handed and crouched back down. "It was necessary to decieve him this way. While he's under the effects of this drug cocktail, it will work out perfectly. He'll see his comrades as the enemy when they arrive." Praxis gently removed the glove of Thunder's left hand and inserted the needle into a vein on his wrist.

"I'm still uncertain about this plan," Lieutenant Commander Radec stated. "It seems like it will hurt us instead of help us."

"Short term loss, long term gain," Praxis told him while he injected the fluid into Thunder. "I need to remove an asset anyway. The old model just isn't effective anymore. I'd do it myself, but we may as well allow Echo to feel like heroes." Radec grunted, a sign of acknowledgment.

"You got the Admiral to sign off on the launch, correct?" Wesker asked abruptly. Mael was startled by the sudden question.

"I've sent it with my courier. He can be trusted, as you both know."

"I apologize for having it on paper," Praxis said, standing up. "Sending that request through the proper channels could be detected though." He pulled up his omni-tool and checked the time. "Damn it, I'm running late," he muttered. "I need to send Saren the data he needed on Eden Prime, but I need to be with Thunder at the warehouse."

"I could handle Thunder," Wesker offered.

"No," Praxis said sternly. "You'll get your chance later. Right now, I need to test him, but I have to get this damn data to Saren."

"Arterius, right?" Radec asked. Praxis nodded. "I can handle that. The Admiral gives me complete leeway when I'm dealing with you, including giving out sensitive information to whoever you want to see it."

"Good. Get on it. And the man you pretended to shoot, Metrac?"

"Yes?"

"Keep him around. He could be useful someday." Radec nodded in agreement, then spun on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving Praxis and Wesker alone. Praxis sighed and rubbed his eyes for a moment.

"Let's get Thunder to the spare warehouse where Mr. Rodriguez is."

"You want minimum security, right?"

"Yes. Echo will be bringing some friends along, so I don't want any of them injured. Have one squad on alert, and then a backup squad to remove Thunder when his friends arrive."

"Now, this alerted squad..." Praxis fixed Wesker with a stern look.

"They will die. Make sure they know that before you get any volunteers."

"Yes sir." Wesker bent down and hoisted Thunder over his shoulders, then walked out of the room. Praxis checked the time on his omni-tool again. _The day is dawning. Time to move._

* * *

December 12th, 2182 04:27

Evon sat on the couch in Mangdalar's apartment, pinging his friends' locations obsessively in his helmet. Jake brushed past Garrus, who was talking to Mangdalar and Yelena, and sat down next to him.

"Evon," he said quietly through a private link. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was," came the reply. Evon didn't stop his search at all. "They got into the ship under my watch."

"But you couldn't have known! They ambushed us too!" Evon paused briefly before returning to his work.

"I should have had my helmet on so TRON could warn me. I should have gone up to the bridge prepared. But I didn't. I left Thunder alone, and now he's gone. It's my fault he's gone. So I'm going to find him, and I'm going to kill the bastards that thought they could kidnap my friend." Jake gave up and got to his feet. He wanted to hunt, move, do something other than sit around in this useless apartment waiting for C-Sec to come up with nothing!

"Ghost!" Jake glanced across the room towards Ian, who was beckoning him over while talking into his headset. Jake picked up a few snippets of conversation as he approached the detective.

"Sir, we have reliable information about the group that set off those bombs." A pause as the person on the other end of the line spoke. "No, sir, it-sir. ...Yes sir. But couldn't-" Jake crossed his arms and began tapping his foot, impatiently waiting. Ian noticed the movement and held up a finger. "Pallin, I don't think you-no, I don't think that. No, this is good info. If you just let Garrus and I go...what? But the bombs didn't cause any harm! Not even structural damage! No-Pallin!" Ian suddenly tapped the headset, ending the call.

"Sometimes, I hate that guy," Ian muttered to himself. He turned to face Ghost. "Right, my boss is ordering us back to headquarters. We are "not authorized"-" he said in air quotes, "to investigate the matter. Yet."

"Well, what the hell?" Jake exclaimed. "Why the fuck not?"

"He's calling us out on some bureaucratic thing, it doesn't matter. The thing that does matter though, is that along with being unable to try to do our jobs and find the guy who did this, we-"

"Ian!" Garrus's sudden interruption seemed only to annoy the young detective.

"I'm in the middle of something here," Ian said through gritted teeth. The turian detective ignored it and walked up to his partner.

"The owners of this place were out when we were attacked, so they didn't see anything," he said, acting like he was reading a report. "None of our men reported seeing that Praxis after he jumped off the skycar, and there's no sign of the kidnapped man or the armored thugs who took him.

"Yes..." Ian said, frowning. "Well, I was talking to Ghost here-"

"You mean the criminal." Jake visibly bristled at the comment.

"Listen, _turian_," he said with contempt. "I'm sick of your attitude towards us. Why don't you try failing to do your job, getting your friend here kidnapped, and on top of that, have the deaths of hundreds on your hands? THEN you can act like a fucking jerk!" Jake turned and stalked off into the other room, furious at the detective. Garrus made a move to follow him, his mandibles spread apart in anger, but Ian put a hand on his chest.

"Don't," the young man warned. "You're provoking him."

"But he-"

"Don't. Garrus, I'm warning you. Let me talk to him. You'll only make things worse." Garrus stared after the mercenary for a few moments before relenting.

"Fine," he said. "But we've got orders, and I'm following them whether or not you want me to." Ian wandered into the back room where Jake was standing, leaning up against a wall.

"Go away," Jake said simply.

"I'm sorry about Garrus," Ian told him. "He's not..."

"Not what?" Jake asked. "I can tell you one thing he's not: a good cop."

"Hey, that's-"

"No, he's a jerk to the people he really doesn't want to piss off," Jake said, cutting the detective off. "Losing your cool when you're a police officer is a bad idea. You make enemies that way, and believe me, if it wasn't for the fact that he's got you and a whole shit ton of backup behind him, he'd be dead." Jake stared at Ian through his visor, the faint blue glow illuminating Ian's face in the dim light. "That's a fact."

"Careful there," Ian said. "That's not something you should be telling me, his partner."

"What are you gonna do?" Jake retorted. "Arrest us?" Ian hung his head, causing a look of confusion to pass over Jake's face. "You feeling alright?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine," Ian replied. "It's just...I'm sorry. I'm under orders."

"Orders for what?" Jake asked, pressing the issue. Ian quietly removed a pair of handcuffs from his belt. Jake recoiled slightly. "No. What-"

"I've been ordered to bring you and your partners in for questioning," Ian stated flatly. He extended his hand, the one with the cuffs. "Your wrist?"

"But...why?" Jake asked, clutching his wrist like he was injured. "We've done nothing wrong this time!"

"I know, but Pallin wants to have you interrogated. So we have to bring you down to the station and ask questions about what you were doing here."

"I don't think you understand my situation," Jake said, his voice suddenly deathly quiet. "My friend-my...brother, is out there somewhere, being held by a hostile organization, along with my client. If we don't find them in time..."

"Then the faster we do this, the faster you can get back to hunting down your...brother." The look on his face was questioning, but he somehow knew it was something to find out later. "Your hands," he asked once more. Jake slowly turned around and stuck out his hands behind him with a sigh. Ian put the cuffs on him carefully, almost as if he didn't want to tighten them too much. Jake was then pushed out into the main living room, causing the remaining Echo members to look at him and slowly pull out their weapons.

"Stand down," Jake told them. "It'll be fine."

"Ian? What are you-" Garrus began, but Ian cut him off.

"Pallin's ordered us to bring them all in for questioning. I need you to run out to the cruiser and grab the extra cuffs we keep in there."

"Got it."

"I'll keep watch on them until you return," Ian informed him. Garrus nodded quickly, then jogged out of the apartment. The moment the door closed however, Ian spun Jake around and began fiddling with his handcuffs. Mangdalar and Yelena tactfully retreated into their bedroom, sensing what was about to happen.

"Woah, what are you doing?" Jake asked, startled.

"We don't have much time," Ian said. "I'm helping you guys get out of here so you can find Thunder and the other guy."

"Stay wary, guys," Ricky said, his hand twitching next to his pistol. "It's gotta be a trap." Ian shook his head quickly, his hair spinning back and forth.

"No. I know Pallin's style of police work. He takes so long with the diplomatic crap, that by the time we get C-Sec to start investigating, your friend will already be dead." He yanked the cuffs off Jake's wrists and pocketed them. "I almost lost the one I love because of that. I'm not going to let it happen again to someone else."

"You have a girlfriend?" Ricky asked. "Who's the oh-so-lucky lady?" Ian threw a dirty glare his way.

"Shut up and move," he said. The group stepped out into the hallway, Ian glancing towards the direction the cruiser was located. "He'll be back any second." He reached in his pocket and took out a headset just like the one he was wearing. "Use this to contact me, alright?" he asked, pressing it into Jake's palm. "I'll try to help you if I get a chance." Jake looked down at the small piece of tech in his hand.

"Why are you helping us, the mass murderers, the terrorists?"

"As bad as you are, you don't blow up dozens of explosives just to cover your escape. You don't go after innocent civilians. Whatever happened in New York, I don't think it was your fault. Ever hear the saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"?" Ian glanced back down towards the main entrance. "You'll have to find some other way out of the building, you can't use the front door. I'm gonna try and buy you some time. Now go!" He set off running towards the main doors while Echo stood there, bewildered.

"Excuse me," Tillman said. All eyes turned to him. "What the fuck just happened?"

"We just got an escape outlet," Jake said, gently hitting him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Come on, we're gonna make a break for the roof." He started jogging towards the elevator, his team beginning to follow him.

"The roof?" Alex asked. "We don't have any vehicles on the roof! What are we going to do, jump?"

"I'll call in a favor that's overdue," Jake replied. "We're going to need help for this one, big-time."

"If we don't get out of here fast, we'll have C-Sec here in force," Timmy mentioned. "I, for one, am not going to shoot them if it comes to that." They reached the elevator, and Evon reached out to hit the call button. So far, he had yet to say a word. Losing Joseph had really gotten to him. As they waited for the elevator to descend, Jake made the call for assistance. It only took a few seconds for the person on the other end to answer.

"Hello? Hello, who's this?"

"Heck, we're in trouble and we need your help," Jake said quickly.

"Wen, what did I tell you about my name?" the man on the other end said very menacingly.

"Steven!" Jake shouted. "It's Ghost here!" The elevator door slid open, letting the team rush inside and hit the button for the roof.

"Ghostie!" Steven Heck yelled. "Man, how ya been? You never call anymore!"

"Steven, listen, we're in trouble. I need you to get your shuttle to our location right now. I mean, as fast as you can."

"Ooh, are you having fun without me? Come on, man, you know how I feel about that stuff."

"Steven! I'm not messing around here, get in your goddamn shuttle, and come pick us up!"

"Fine, yeesh. You'd think you could ask nicely..." The elevator jolted to a stop, the lights on the inside blinking off.

"They cut the power," Tillman muttered. Alex sidled up to one of the doors and motioned for Timmy to help him out. Together, they pulled the doors open, allowing the team to climb up the small ledge in front of them and out into a hallway.

"Great," Ricky said. "Now what?"

"We take...the stairs," Jake replied, searching for a doorway that would lead them to a stairwell. He spotted it across the hall, and pointed it out. Timmy ran ahead to reach it first, his friends close behind. The door automatically opened as he approached, revealing not just a set of stairs, but a raging turian throwing a punch with his right hand. Timmy quickly sidestepped, grabbed the arm, and twisted it behind Garrus's back in one smooth move. The rest of the time took a step back, unsure of what to do.

"Go!" Timmy yelled. "I'll catch up with you!" Garrus struggled to get out of Timmy's grip as Dead Echo hurried past and up the stairs. Once he was sure his friends had reached a safe distance, Timmy turned Garrus so the detective was facing the stairs, then planted his free hand on the turian's head and pushed. With the top half of his body being pushed forward and his arm held behind his back, Garrus flipped onto his stomach and tumbled down the stairs, allowing Timmy to dash up towards the roof.

He forced his way up the remaining 4 flights of stairs and outside onto the roof. The twinkling lights stretched out as far as anybody could see, hiding the true danger the team was currently in.

"Steven," Jake was saying, "Steven, I need-no, Steven, just activate the tracking system I gave you. No, that's for weapons, it's-there ya go!" Jake noticed Timmy come through the door, and quickly directed both him and Alex to stand by the door, just in case Garrus tried to surprise them again. "Alright, C-Sec's right on our ass, I need you the moment you can be here." He ended the call and turned to the pair by the door.

"Ok, our turian buddy has probably called some backup in, but I have no idea when it will show up," he said. "He's probably going to make us seem like public enemy number one here, so we have to be ready for anything, strike teams, snipers, whatever."

"Right," Alex agreed. "And if we start shooting them..."

"They'll come after us with intent to kill," Tillman finished.

"Exactly. So we have to go non-lethal until Heck shows up," Jake told them.

"We aren't exactly equipped for that," Ricky mentioned. "I've got two flashbangs, and my fists." A quick tally of gear was made, and the team came up with ten flashbang grenades. Jake tossed one up in the air and caught it.

"Let's do this thang," he said, laughing nervously. They settled in to stare down the stairs, waiting for someone to poke their head around a corner. Sure enough, it didn't take long before a salarian officer peeked around the corner before quickly ducking back. Timmy took one of his grenades off his belts and looked at Jake, requesting authorization. Jake nodded.

Timmy hit the timer and counted to three in his head, then tossed the flashbang into the stairwell. A split-second later, it exploded, the noise echoing back up and out. Timmy dashed inside and practically leaped down the whole flight of stairs to go around the corner. He found two C-Sec officers on the landing, the salarian clutching his head and a turian on his knees, shaking his head. Timmy delivered a swift kick to the turian, knocking him down the stairs. The salarian recieved the same treatment, and Timmy hurried back up the stairs.

"This shouldn't be too hard," he commented when he made it back to his friends.

"Ha, you say that now," Ricky said. "You just screwed us all over." A quizzical look passed over Timmy's face.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Every time someone says things won't go wrong, or it's easy, it gets worse." Ricky shook his head. "So much worse."

* * *

"Ricky, get down, sniper's got a bead on you," Jake said as he scanned the area, his helmet automatically tagging any cops he saw and adding them to everyone's mini-map. Ricky ducked down behind a planter.

"Thanks for keeping my head safe," he called out.

"Well, you owe me a beer," Jake laughed. "Otherwise, see ya!"

"Oh, you dick..."

"Got another strike team coming up the stairs," Timmy called out. Jake let out a sigh. _Come on, Heck. Where are you? _Alex threw a flashbang down the stairs, the detonation acting like a camera flash.

"That's it," Alex announced. "I'm out."

"Same," replied Tillman.

"I've got two," Ricky said. He tossed one over to Evon, who prepared to toss one in the stairwell. Before he could though, Jake leaped to hs feet and tackled Evon to the ground. A split-second later, a high-powered sniper round impacted on the section of wall where Evon's head was.

"Ricky, it's on you," Jake yelled. Ricky pulled the one flashbang he had off his belt and primed it. He glanced behind him on a whim and saw a rapidly approaching shuttle from off in the distance.

"I think Steve's here," he called out. Everyone turned their heads simultaneously to look at the craft.

"Yep, that's him," Jake informed the team. Then things decided to go south from there. The primed grenade in Ricky's hand exploded in a flash of white light, blinding everyone looking towards him. Fortunately, that included the sniper teams surrounding the building, but all Dead Echo members were stuck.

"God damn it, Ricky!" Alex shouted.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he yelled back, stumbling around and bumping into the rooftop decorations. Jake heard C-Sec thundering up the stairs, taking advantage of the situation.

"Evon, use the flash and shut down your helmet!" he called out. Echo shut off their visor, making it so all they could see was darkness. Evon then blew up the flashbang, stunning the C-Sec strike team and the snipers once more. The mercenaries reactivated their helmets, and were surprised to find their vision clear. Steven flew up in the Kodiak drop shuttle at that moment, opening the door. Jake wasted no time sprinting for the hatch, and he and his friends made it inside before C-Sec could figure out where they went. The shuttle quickly turned and rocketed away from the scene, eager to get away.

"Hoo boy," Steven said from the shuttle's cockpit. "That was a close one! You guys were almost done for!"

"Yeah," Jake said, allowing himself to relax. "What the hell took you so long?"

"Traffic," Heck said innocently. "You know how it is around here." Jake chuckled. "Hey, where's our boy, Thunder? You didn't leave him behind, did you?"

"No," Evon said, finally speaking. "He was...he's being held by the enemy." Heck glanced back into the cabin, surprise on his face.

"Oh wow. That sucks. You gonna get him back?"

"We're going to try our hardest," Jake said firmly. "Take us to your place. We can tell you the whole story in your office."

* * *

"So...here we are," Jake finished rather lamely. Steven stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"That's a pretty crazy story," he said. "Sounds perfect for a guy like me! Alright, let's do this!"

"Well, hold on," Ricky said, raising a hand. "We don't even know where he is! Are we gonna go door to door asking for him?"

"That's a good point," Timmy said. "But Flynn's taking care of that." He motioned to the person sitting on a chair in the corner of Heck's office. Evon was pinging the locations of all Echo members over and over, hoping that Joseph's signal would show eventually. "He was with Thunder when he was kidnapped. Flynn's taking it extremely personally."

"It happens, man. It happens. But," Heck said, raising a finger, "you get back to me when you find him, alright? Then we can talk payment." Jake frowned.

"Payment? Whaddya mean, payment?" Evon suddenly leapt to his feet, brimming with excitement.

"I've got him!" All eyes turned to him. "I've got his location!"

"Are you serious?" Alex asked. Evon nodded eagerly.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed. "He's in some warehouse in Zakera Ward. I say, we bust in there, shoot anything that moves, and grab him."

"Woah, now hold on," Timmy said. "Think about this. His signal pops up after being surpressed, and it's in a warehouse? I'm thinking trap."

I'll ask our C-Sec buddy who that warehouse belongs to," Jake told them. "That should help." He stepped away from the group for a small amount of privacy. He took his helmet off with his back to Heck and placed the small headset around his ear. He then tapped the headset to turn it on, and replaced his helmet.

"Check, check," he said quietly. "Detective, you there?" Ian's voice immediately responded.

"Yeah. Gimme a minute or so." Jake turned his attention back to the group in the office.

"So it's a big open space on the inside?" Heck was asking.

"Yep," Tillman replied. "That's kinda what warehouses are, you know? Storage space."

"Well, yeah, yeah, I know that," Steven replied. "But from what you told me, these dudes are total badasses. If they beat you all to the floor, then what's to say they couldn't do it worse in that place?"

"Fuck, man," Ricky exclaimed. "You're right!"

"You know it!" Heck said with a laugh. "If this is a trap, which it probably is, the six of you are gonna be outnumbered."

"Let me guess," Alex said, his arms crossed. "You want to come with us."

"When was the last time we had fun together, huh? Come on, you know it'll be awesome!"

"How much of a difference will one extra person make?" Timmy asked. Steven looked at him, hurt.

"You don't think I'm that good? Really? Fine then, I can ask a few friends if they'd want to help out. The more the merrier!" Timmy's eyes narrowed.

"How many friends are we talking about here?" Heck scratched his short, dark hair.

"I dunno, maybe...six or seven?" Evon raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Jesus, with that many people, we could bust in there and annhilate anyone in our way!"

"I know, right?" Steven said excitedly. "I'll go give 'em a call!" He hurried out of the room to summon his associates. Detective Shaw finally came back on the line.

"Ghost, that you?" Jake put a hand up to the side of his helmet out of habit.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Heard about your daring escape. Something about flashbanging yourself?" Jake coughed.

"Uh, yeah. You know it. Flash C-Sec and get out. It worked, didn't it?"

"That it did. All our snipers and spotters were blinded by the double flashes, and the strike team was completely incapacitated after 4 consecutive blindings."

"Hey, at least they're not dead," Jake remarked.

"True, true," Ian admitted. "So, what are you going to do about SRPA?"

"Thunder's tracking signal just lit up. It was being surpressed before, but it's suddenly on now."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Little of both," Jake said jokingly. "He's in a Zakera Ward warehouse."

"His signal shows up in a warehouse? Yeah, that's not suspicious at all," Ian said with a laugh.

"Tell me about it... So, from what I'm hearing, we're getting some guys together and making an assault on the place."

"Do you need me?" Ian asked. Jake paused, considering his words carefully.

"You're a police officer," he said. "I think, right now, the best thing you can do is keep the C-Sec presence around the place to a minimum."

"That'd work great, except I don't know where it is."

"Oh. Yeah. I'll get you the exact location in little while, but you participating in this is probably not a good idea. Hell, you helping us at all is probably not a good idea. I still don't know why you're doing this."

"SRPA's a threat to the safety of the Citadel. And so far, Thunder's the only lead we have on them. If we lose him, then we lose track of SRPA. If I tried to do this the official way, it just wouldn't work. This way, I still get to do my job like I should be doing it, but I have you helping me out, since you can move faster than I can." Jake took a moment to get his thoughts straight in his head.

"So, let me get this straight," Jake said. "You'd like to take SRPA down, but you're constrained by the law."

"Correct."

"So," Jake continued, "you're using us in order to do it." Ian fell silent, probably nervous of that true accusation. Jake grinned though. "Shaw, you think more like us than you'd like to imagine. I'll contact you within the hour with the location of the warehouse, alright?"

"Phew, for a second there...yeah, that works just fine. I'll just have to sneak away from Garrus."

"Oh, speaking of Garrus," Jake said, reminded of his encounter with Timmy. "How's he dealing with our escape?" The detective laughed.

"Oh man, is he pissed. I recommend you stay away from him for a while if I were...shit, gotta go. Talk later." Shaw closed the link. Jake shrugged and sat down on the couch in Heck's dry cleaning office to wait for whoever Heck was bringing.

* * *

15:12

Steven walked into the office all armored up. He waved his hand with a flourish and bowed as he pointed to the door.

"May I present to you, my friends." Six people shuffled into the room, all in armor. Four were human, one was a salarian, and the last was a quarian, surprisingly. Jake stood up from the counch and approached them, as did the rest of his team.

"Friends, this is Dead Echo," Heck said, "Dead Echo, friends." Jake stuck his hand out towards the first man in line. The man had short brown hair with high cheekbones, but nothing really stood him out from the crowd.

"Hi there," Jake said as the two shook hands. "Name's Ghost."

"Niko," came the response, the accent unmistakable. Towards the back of the room, Alex picked up on the voice and name, and rapidly approached Niko. He did the same thing as Jake.

"My name's Ajax," he told him. "I heard yours was Niko?" Niko looked slightly anxious.

"Yes. Why, you know it? Do I owe you money?" Alex shook his head.

"No. Your last name wouldn't be Bellic, by any chance, would it?" Niko frowned.

"It is. You say you have not met me before?" Alex didn't move for a couple seconds.

"Sorry, I...no. I haven't. Would you, umm...would you excuse me for a second?" Alex released Niko's hand and briskly stepped outside the office. Jake had just finished meeting a man named Alec Mason, he seemed nice enough, so Jake decided to follow Alex and see what he was doing. He looked out the door and saw Alex running in circles, his hands above his head. Jake could just barely make out a muffled shout of happiness from underneath Alex's helmet. Jake slowly closed the door, leaving Alex to his incredibly odd behavior. Jake continued down the line, meeting everyone.

The new arrivals included Carcer the salarian, Gara'tul the quarian, a muscular black man named Jason Barrett, and a lovely Central American woman named Amanda Libre.

"Ok, so what is the plan here?" Niko asked. By this time, Alex had recovered from whatever afflicted him, but he was still fascinated by this Bellic person.

"The plan," Jake began. "Well, we've got a friend and a client who were kidnapped. Our objective is to find them and retrieve them."

"That's it?" Amanda asked, her accent emphasizing certain words. "Sounds like a pretty easy job to bring so many people in."

"The odds are against us, I'll admit," Jake said. "But our tactic is shock and awe. We've picked up our friend's signal in a Zakera Ward warehouse, and we're making a lightning strike in to get him back. We'll give details on the way, but there's a strong risk it's a trap."

"What's the pay?" That question came from Gara'tul. Jake thought about it for a moment.

"10,000 credits. Each."

"I'm in," Gara said instantly. "It's a good amount for a job as simple as this."

"Even me, right?" Heck asked. "Cause, you know, as much as I wanna do this, I can't exactly do it for free..." Jake looked at him and sighed.

"Yes, Steven, even you. The rest of you in?" Everybody except Niko accepted. Jake took a step forward, but Alex brushed past him first.

"Lemme handle this," he muttered under his breath. Alex walked up to Niko and looked him right in the eyes. "Niko, what's the problem?"

"If this job is so easy, why do you need us? Why pay so much money for a quick...what do you call it, smash and grab?"

"It's because the men we're attacking are elite. They've got training, superior gear, everything. We need people to help us out. People like you. Will you help us, Niko?" The man shrugged.

"Sure, I guess. As long as I get half up front."

"We'll transfer the credits on the way," Evon interjected. "Can we get the hell out of here? I want to kick some ass." Heck let out a whoop.

"Alright! Lemme go warm up the shuttle. Oh, this is gonna be so fun!"

* * *

I sat on a hard chair, my hands chained behind my back. Even if I could move them, I wouldn't have the will to. My mind was swimming in an assortment of drugs and chemicals, making it impossible for me to focus on anything for long. I watched Art from across the room, his nose dripping blood, one eye swollen shut and bruised. He was restrained in a metal seat, panting from exhaustion. Praxis stood before him, his hands behind his back.

"I will ask you one more time. How much do you know? What exactly did you see?" he said. Art weakly shook his head.

"I don't know anything," he whispered, his voice too hoarse to do anything more. "I swear, I don't know anything important. I've told you everything." Praxis stared at him impassively for a few moments before turning to one of his armored behemoths of a man surrounding him.

"Hit him again," Praxis told him. The man nodded and stepped in front of Art. Like a lightning bolt, he nailed Art in the face with his armored gauntlet, the force of the impact scattering blood and spittle across the room. As Art tried to recover, the guard yanked a metal rod off his belt and jabbed it into the poor man's gut. Electricity flowed out of the baton, sending Art into convulsions. I looked away when the screams started. I had seen as much of it as I could handle.

About half a minute later, silence descended on the empty space once more. I struggled to turn my head back in Art's direction. Praxis leaned forward, his voice sending chills down my spine.

"Mr. Rodriguez," he began. "I am done playing games. You tell me everything you know about SRPA, or I deal with you myself." Art mumbled something unintelligible, ending his sentence with what sounded like the word "pikestaff". Praxis straightened up.

"Release him," he demanded. "Praxis's men immediately undid Art's restraints and hauled him to his feet. The musician's body was limp, so he was carried by the two guards who freed him. Praxis reached into his black cloak and withdrew a Phalanx pistol. He aimed it squarely at Art's forehead, the custom blue laser sight twitching around. Art's eyes went wide with fear.

"Last chance," Praxis said.

"I swear I don't know anything," Art started babbling. "I know there's something called SRPA, and that you were in a vid, but that's it! I don't fucking know anything else! Please!" He began sobbing, the tears falling down his lacerated cheeks. Praxis watched him for a few moments. The blue dot on Art's head abruptly moved to his left shoulder, and Praxis fired the gun. The powerful shot echoed around the warehouse, only to be replaced by Art's hysterical screams, yelling his innocence.

Praxis motioned towards Art's left arm, and the guard holding it nodded. Art was forced to his knees, and the arm fully extended, his elbow pointing towards the sky. The SRPA agent then violently brought his other arm down on the joint, bending it the wrong way and breaking the arm. Art screamed, the pain excruciating. Praxis put his face right in front of Art's.

"I ask this last time, Arturo," he said loudly in order to be heard over his screams. "Tell me everything you saw!"

"I did," Art whimpered. "Why are you doing this to me?" Praxis shook his head.

"Wrong answer." He viciously whipped his pistol across Art's face, knocking the man into much-awaited unconsciousness. Praxis snorted in contempt. "Unbelievable. Can't even tell the truth when he's faced with his own death." Then he turned towards me. "Ah, Thunder," he said, almost jovially. "Good, you're awake." He made a "come here" gesture with his finger. "Bring him to me."

I suddenly felt hands on my body, untying my bonds and helping me to my feet. The hands gently pushed me towards Praxis, allowing me to walk on my own. I staggered over to him like a drunk, unable to walk in a straight line.

"Will someone please give him the second compound?" Praxis asked as I walked closer to him. My helmet was torn from my head and tossed to the ground, a syringe plunged into my neck. In my drugged state, I barely felt the needle slide in, let alone fight against it. Almost instantly though, I felt my head clearing, the fog lifted from it by whatever I was just given. I try to shake my head in order to clear it faster.

"I apologize for this brutality," Praxis said. "I prefer much more polite methods." I glance over at Art's limp form, his arm bent at an unnatural angle and blood slowly pooling on the floor beneath him.

"You're sorry?" I ask, astounded. My words slurred a bit, the drugs not completely flushed out of my system. "You're sorry? Look at what you did to him!"

"I believe in a fair fight," he continued, acting as if I hadn't spoken. "All my life, I've dealt against the odds. I try to help where I can."

"Are you serious? Help?" Praxis nodded.

"Yes. The work SRPA does-what _I _do is for the greater good." I must have looked like an idiot because he laughed. "You may not believe me, even understand me, but you will...in time."

"How is this-" I motion to Art "-for the greater good?"

"Think, Joseph," Praxis thundered. "You have no idea the reach of our organization! If news got out past those we are connected with that we exist..." He shook his head.

"I brought you here for a reason," he said, brushing off the question. "I'm curious to see how far you've developed since you first arrived here." He snapped his fingers, causing a pair of guards to suddenly grab me by the shoulders. "So I'm going to test you." One of the guards injects me with yet another serum, giving me an instant headache.

"That was the catalyst for a previous injection," Praxis explained. The world shimmered around me, shifting like I'm on a drug trip. The sensation drove me to my knees. By the time I manage to look up again, the warehouse is gone. I found myself standing in the center of a laboratory of some kind, except this one was old. So old, in fact, it was made out of wood, the floor creaking underneath my weight. I glance up to see Praxis there, removing his black cloak.

"Wha...how..." I stammer, confused at what had just happened. Praxis cast his cloak to the side, revealing what he wore under it. He had immaculate white pants, and a matching long sleeve shirt. His right arm was encased in some sort of cybernetic enhancement, its silver color winking back at me in the light. He had short, slicked-back grey hair, the hairstyle familiar for some reason. To finish the odd ensemble, he had polished black combat boots on. I looked for any sort of weapons on his body, but he had none. Neither did I.

I quickly glanced around my surroundings to figure out where the hell I was. I looked out a doorway and through a window to see a rainforest outside, apparently. turned back to Praxis, who was regarding me coldly, like a...test subject or something.

"How the hell did you do this?" I asked.

"Fool the mind well enough, and it believes that what it percieves is real," he said with a smile. "This is a hallucination for the most part, but you and I are real."

"And what are we doing exactly?"

"A test. So..." He pointed at me. "Show me what you've got!" I took a step back.

"Wait, what?" Praxis jumped a couple feet into the air and went into a crouched position. He seemed to come down harder than he went up, and the impact certainly proved that. A small shockwave threw up a cloud of dust and dirt, obscuring my vision. I braced myself, expecting to see him burst out of the cloud, but nothing happened. The dust cleared, and he was gone. _Oh, it's just one of these days... _

I took a few cautious steps forward, wary for a surprise attack. "Very poor form." Praxis's voice seemed to come from everwhere at once. "You don't know where your enemy is, yet you wander out in the open?" The ground next to me exploded in a shower of electrical sparks. I flinched away instinctively and whirled around, trying to see what caused the surprise. There was nothing obvious in the rafters, the walls were mostly bare...it was downright spooky.

I slid towards the nearest wall and pressed myself against it, my eyes roving around the room, searching for any sign of an attack. Unfortunately, I forgot I was dealing with a superhuman in a fragile lab. A hand punched through the wall and wrapped around my chest. I only had time to look at it before I was yanked backwards through the wall. Praxis tossed me to the floor, shards of broken wood raining down on my face.

"So far, you need to work on your detection skills," he commented. He reached down and grabbed me by the throat with his right hand, my finger scrabbling over the metal uselessly as he crushed my throat. He turned and hurled me back across the room, my body slamming into the wall on the other side. Praxis strode in after me, exuding a powerful sense of authority. He stood with his arms crossed in the center of the room as I got to my feet.

"I think it's about time for a hand to hand test," he said. He threw back his head and laughed, the sound somehow sending a chill through me. I rushed up and delivered three swift punches to his face while I could. His gaze suddenly hardened, my blows apparently succeded to only annoy him. He lashed out with his foot, kicking me square in the chest. I flew back a few feet and landed on my back, the skin all over my body screaming in pain.

"This isn't exactly fair," I grunted as I stood up again. "I'm injured from the bomb you blew up in my hands while you're perfectly fine."

"Oh, I wouldn't say I'm perfectly fine," he replied. "You're dealing with an tired old man who's been shot and stabbed many times over his life. You learn to push past the pain after a while. Especially the emotional type." There was a twinkle in his eye suggesting...something, I didn't know what. But I stepped forward to attack him regardless. He brought his left hand up to block the weak punch I threw and kneed me in the gut. I doubled over and was tossed to the ground again. His presence loomed over me, so I decided to try something new. I sharply kicked upwards with my legs like a one-two punch, trying to injure him somehow. Like a speeding bullet, his forearms were there to block my attack, but it gave me time to roll to the side and hop to my feet.

"Ok, fine," I muttered. "If you wanna play hardball..." The adrenaline in my body had begun pumping through me, slowly numbing the burning sensation on my skin. I stepped towards Praxis, aiming a straight punch at his head. Sure enough, he grabbed my arm and twisted it, throwing me to the floor once again. I got up quickly this time, undeterred. Praxis had his arms partially outstretched, ready to deflect any of my attacks.

I tried to kick upwards, hoping to hit one of his elbows, just so I could be satisfied with hitting him. He denied me yet again, pushing my leg back down, grabbing me by the shoulder, and throwing me to the hard wooden ground. He quickly drew back his cybernetic arm and moved his fist towards my head at a blinding speed. I rolled out of harm's way before he hit me though, and his fist smashed into the ground. _I am getting so sick of being thrown to the floor!_

Praxis took the offensive for once, hooking his right arm out towards me the moment I got back on my feet. I immediately tried the same move he had used on me, and surprisingly, it worked. I held Praxis's arm in my grip after I blocked his punch, and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. I tossed him down, and although he did hit the floor, he expertly rolled back to his feet. He tried to punch me again, this time aiming an uppercut at my jaw with his right hand. I grabbed his fist as it came up and redirected it behind his back, in a perfect position to break it if I pulled the right way.

Before I could do anything, he whirled around, yanking his arm out of my grasp and elbowing me in the face. I was sent sprawling to the floor again. "I am so sick of you doing that!" I yelled.

"If you say so," he told me. I climbed to my feet and turned to see him running at me, a snarl on his face. He delivered a hook with his left arm, which I backpedaled to avoid. Without pause, he tried hitting me with his other arm, the one that really hurts, so I brought my arms up in front of my face to block the attack. The impact stung, but it was better than being decked in the face. He tried hitting me with his left again, but it was useless, so he switched to a more vulnerable spot: my stomach.

His attacks were relentless, slugging me in the gut twice, then nailing me in the face as I tried to stop him from hitting me in the stomach. I staggered back, clueless as to how I would beat this guy. As I was recoiling from being struck, Praxis backhanded me across the face, yelling out in rage. I was swiftly punched in the side too, forcing me to bend over in pain. I quickly straightened up and leaned back, avoiding his next strike.

Praxis whirled around, trying to elbow me in the face again. This time, I was ready for it. I grabbed his arm and bent it upwards, popping it against the shoulder joint. He grunted from the tension, then elbowed me with his other arm. The impact knocked my head back, but I hung on, unwilling to let go. He tried again, but I reached up a hand to stop him from hitting me that time. I retaliated by letting go and punching him in the back of the skull, making him stagger forward. I ran forward, light on my toes, and kicked him in the side with my right leg. He blocked it, of course, but I didn't give him a chance to hit back.

Moving faster than I thought I could, I hit him with a one-two punch, but his reflexes allowed him to block both attacks. Fed up with this melee, I aimed a blow for his face and, surprisingly, landed it. I heard a crack as my fist landed on his nose, and followed up on it with a 360 degree backhand. Keeping Praxis off balance was now my highest priority, I knew that if he recovered, I'd never get back this advantage.

I kept up the attack, kicking him in the side again, and then aiming even higher and hitting him in the head. His yells and grunts were the only sign I was actually causing him pain, but it worked. I kicked him in the shin, and then finally brought up my foot for the coup de grace: the spartan kick. I firmly pushed my foot into Praxis's chest, kicking him away. He staggered backwards, breathing heavily. I jumped forward, hoping to land a flying ninja kick, but Praxis finally got wise. He grabbed me out of mid-air and threw me -hard- to the floor. The impact knocked the wind out of me, leaving me incapacitated for a moment. Praxis stepped back, panting.

"It took a minute, but you actually got pretty good there," he told me. Suddenly, his gaze snapped towards something behind me in the distance, my ears picking up on what sounded like gunfire. I rolled over to see what he was looking at, but all I saw was a blank wall. "We're done," he said abruptly. He put a hand up to his ear. "Second squad, go go go!" Praxis turned and walked away through a freaking solid wall. I watched, aghast, before I remembered I was hallucinating my surroundings.

I stood up. _Well...what the hell do I do now? _Then I heard footsteps outside one of the doorways. I froze, wary of another beating from Praxis. As such, it was an utter shock when one of Dead Echo rounded the corner. The paint scheme belonged to Alex, the red and black clashing together.

"Alex!" I exclaimed. "How did you get here?" I unhooked his pistol, a standard Predator, and tossed it to me.

"Be quiet, Thunder," he told me. "The team's here, we're getting you out." He turned and motioned for me to follow him. We exited the room and began walking down one of the facility's hallways, Alex watching the front, myself watching the back.

"Hey, what is this place to you?" I ask him, wanting to know if I really am hallucinating.

"We're in a warehouse, surrounded by crates," he replied.

"Oh, ok, that makes sense then." A SRPA agent turned the corner off in the distance, his gun lowered. He saw me and waved.

"I found Thunder!" he called out, probably to his teammates. Alex heard him, turned around, and he and I both started shooting. The agent dived back around the corner, shouting curse words.

"Come on," Alex yelled, and he and I took off running. We didn't encounter anybody else until I met up with my whole team again, waiting by a shuttle.

"Oh, you guys," I said. "I'm so glad to see you!" None of them said anything, but one tossed me my helmet. I moved to put it on, but Alex grabbed my hand.

"Wait until we're aboard," he requested. I hurried aboard the shuttle oddly positioned in the middle of a rainforest, my team covering me as I climbed in. The second I was inside and belted in, my team rushed aboard and took their seats, the hatch closing and the craft lifting off. I glanced towards the cockpit, then back to my team. The whole team, all six of them.

"Uh, guys?" I asked. "Who's flying the ship?"

"Put your helmet on now," Alex said. I obliged, putting it on and powering it up. Suddenly, I realized that I just didn't hallucinate my surroundings. Six SRPA agents watched me, my helmet's sensors and cameras finally showing me the real picture, overriding the false images my mind was throwing up. My mouth formed an "O" shape as I figured everything out.

"I saw you as my friends," I muttered, "so that means...the guy I shot at..." A SRPA agent stood up, taking out one of the stun batons I had seen used on Art. Fortunately, I had taken so much punishment in the last few minutes that being stunned into unconsciousness wasn't all that bad.

**Author's Note: Writing that fistfight, woo! Tell me if that was a good job or not, that was the most ambitious hand to hand combat sequence I've ever done so far. Ok, not much to say here, except we'll be having a change of scenery, setting, whatever you wanna call it, next chapter. So we're done on the Citadel finally, moving on to new places. Sorry for the wait, this just took me a while to write, and then things kept popping up.**


	20. The Hunt Begins

**A/N: Umm...hi.**

December 12th, 2182 17:00

Praxis was bent over a computer terminal on his ship, the dim lights shadowing the rest of the crew working away on the deck.

"Damn it, Jorhan!" he shouted. "I cannot authorize funding for the system if it doesn't work! Get me a functional prototype for testing, and if it goes well, THEN I can transfer the funds to Hahne-Kedar and you. But you have to be the one to make the inital step, do you understand?"

"Yes," came the reply, the voice echoing out of the terminal's speakers. "Fine, Praxis. I'll get you your prototype, and then once you pass the funds over, we can begin mass-production of the modified gear and supply it to the Alliance."

"Yes," Praxis said exasperatedly. "That's been the plan the entire time. Make sure you create a surplus. We'll have to pass off some of the tech to the turians and other races in a few years time. Just remember, Stahl. We need as many military units shut down when the time comes."

"Fine. Just make sure you uphold your end of the bargain!" Praxis cut the comm link to Jorhan and stood there, silently fuming. His comlink beeped, indicating an incoming mesage. He tapped his right arm, accepting the call.

"What?" he snapped.

"Sir, we've got Echo on the move," a SRPA agent said. "Verify you want us to launch ASAP?" Praxis smiled darkly.

"Immediately. Set us on a course for the nearest uninhabited star system, and make sure there is no life in the surrounding area. We have to make a test firing of the Null cannon, and we may as well do that en route to Earth." Praxis cut that link too and quickly started another call. "Patch me through to the Okami director." He waited a few minutes, tapping his foot, then pacing around the open floor until a female voice answered.

"Praxis, you called?" The voice sounded slightly out of breath, like the speaker had been doing some minor exercises.

"Don't play coy with me, Lightning," he snarled. "I've been trying to get in touch with you since over an hour ago!"

"Yes, well...sorry. I've been busy."

"Busy with your brother, no doubt... Listen, I need you to make sure the former northeast American AI facility is ready. Power has to be rerouted to the KP-Kirov, and tests must be made to ensure its functionality. Make sure it can still uplink into the military's systems, you can get in touch with Radec about that issue. And most importantly, the ICBM had better be functioning when I arrive." The woman on the other end of the line sighed.

"Yes, sir," she said sarcastically. "Whatever you say."

"Don't take that tone with me. I've raised you and your brother as best I could for the past few years. I expect a better attitude. You know how important this is."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'll make sure your baby's up and running." Praxis's expression softened momentarily.

"When you reactivate her...tell her I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Got it." The woman on the other end disconnected, and Praxis allowed himself a moment of reminiscing before turning his attention to his work, ignoring those around him just as they had been trained to ignore him. There was much to be done as it grew nearer to the completion of phase one, and Praxis didn't have the luxury of time anymore.

* * *

December 12th, 2182 15:42

Evon watched the shuttle lift off and soar out of the open warehouse door, like an airplane leaving its hangar. He held his Avenger AR loosely at his side, too shocked to react. Ricky and Alex jogged up behind him, staring after the rapidly shrinking shuttle and its running lights.

"Did we lose him again?" Ricky asked.

"Yep," Alex replied, pronouncing the P like a bubble popping.

"Oh, that little motherfucker..."

Evon continued to stare blankly at the space where the shuttle used to be. It was impossible to gauge his emotions due to his helmet being on and in place. Alex, in a surprising show of sentamentality, walked up and patted him on the shoulder.

"Relax, we'll get him back," Alex told him. "We were close this time, he just decided to betray us and open fire. No big deal."

"Hey, you don't think he's on their side, do you?" Ricky asked.

"What? You're kidding, right? The guy must have been rattled. Helmet wearing goons everywhere, then we show up, he just panicked, I'm sure."

Evon, who for some unknown reason, was putting an abnormal amount of emotion into his friend being captured, still showed no outward feelings. Alex touched Evon's shoulder again to get his attention.

"Come on," he said. "We're going back. There's nothing we can do." He and Ricky turned around, leaving Evon to stare a few more seconds before following them. The advance team hurried back to where the SRPA forces were still fighting.

Necro somersaulted across an opening between some industrial crates, minimizing the amount of incoming fire he was taking. He looked around the corner and damn near got his head blown off thanks to a round fired from an M-5 Phalanx heavy pistol. Necro's HUD tagged the weapon and pulled up the specifications of it on the side of his visor. His eyes flicked over to get the important details. _Close-range, punches through shields and armor, fires 80 rounds per minute-_ His thoughts were interrupted by the salarian to his left, guy named Carcer, growling in frustration.

"These have to be some of the strongest shields I've ever seen," the salarian exclaimed. Necro opened up his omni-tool, the haptic interface hovering over his arm. He keyed in the sequence for a shield overload and let it charge for a moment before firing the electric pulse around the corner blindly. Fortunately, the electricity homed in on the most technology based thing, the SRPA agent's armor. Arcs of electricity shot off of the reflective alloy, shorting out the kinetic barriers protecting the man. It was then Echo 7 popped out around the corner and unloaded his rifle into his target. The first few shots went wild, but a lucky hit to the knee punched through the protective armor and the flesh beneath it, bringing him down.

Necro ran up, tossing his gun to the side and extending his forearm blades at the same time. He slid the last few feet, his HUD rapidly aquiring and discarding likely weak points before settling on the neck seals of the armor. Necro rammed the tip of his blade up and in, dealing a mortal blow. _Hmm, bit tougher than I suspected. _He yanked his blade out of the man's neck, and the poor guy clutched at the injury, gurgling blood. Somebody finally noticed the mercenary and bullets pinged off the solid metal floor beside Necro. He scooted back to where it was safe, stopping to pick up his rifle as he went. He went back to his old cover point and found Carcer had swapped places with Gara'Tul.

The quarian glanced silently at Necro as he came around the corner, then went back to the battle. _That Gary's a strange one. _It was easier for Necro to call him that instead of his real name, and added a semblance of humanity to the cold, silent alien.

"Check, check," Ajax shouted over the RIGlink. "Coming back, main target got away." Echo 2, who had just fired his shotgun into a SRPA agent's gut at close range, cursed after wiping off what blood he could.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," he muttered. "This is all a waste?" Something nudged him in the back of the head.

"It certainly is now." The unknown voice sounded like it was emanating from some of the shittiest speakers Ghost had ever heard. Unfortunately, the reluctant merc knew exactly what was pushed up against the back of his helmet. He dropped the Tornado shotgun he was using and slowly extended his hands up, palms facing outward and open. A sudden violent crack sounded right behind him, and Ghost whirled around to see Barrett, JB as he said to call him, in his impenetrable armor wrapping his arm around the SRPA agent's neck after delivering a dehabilitating punch to the back. The poor man's head was shoved into JB's armpit, and with a terrific wrench, JB jerked the enemy combatant's neck upward, instantly severing his spinal cord. The attacker was dumped on the floor quite unceremoniously, and JB looked at Ghost coldly.

"Watch your six next time," he demanded. Ghost nodded once, the big man's cue to stomp off in search of more things to fight. Jake bent down and scooped his gun off the floor just as Ajax, Ricardo, and Flynn rounded a corner, weapons raised and ready to shoot. Echo 4 lowered his gun when he saw Ghost, but the others made sure they were prepared. Especially Ajax. The man acted just like a krogan most of the time.

"Echo 4," Ghost said, greeting his comrade. Ricardo nodded in response.

"SRPA got him," he said simply. "Let's mop up here, get Art, and move on." The sounds of mass effect-propelled rounds pinged around the vast space, but the noise was dying down as SRPA was eliminated. Ghost looked around awkwardly as his crew stood waiting in front of him.

"Well, uh...let's go." They wandered off towards the shooting, but at a slow pace, casually checking corners. Since the fight was almost over, each of them silently agreed to not charge in and get shot unnecessarily.

* * *

Niko Bellic jammed his shotgun underneath the chin of a SRPA agent and pulled the trigger. The very liberal application of extreme force exploded the man's head and helmet, peppering Niko with little bits of blood, bone, and shrapnel. He let out a small cry of disgust and began wiping the gore off his armor and helmet after attaching his shotgun to the magnetic clips on his back.

"Blech," he groaned, scraping off a bone chunk from his helmet's visor. "I hate this fucking station. Always something going on." The shooting finally stopped, with silence descending on the warehouse floor.

"Alright, sound off," somebody yelled. "Any injuries?" The resounding chorus of no's was reassuring. _Here I was thinking this was easy money. Never expected commandos. _

"Right," the Dead Echo member called Ghost said. "Regroup where we came in." Niko jogged around a stack of boxes over to their entry point. Those shaped charges that the team had brought blew a nice, big, clean hole in the wall. The targets never knew what hit 'em. Everybody grouped around the small pile of rubble.

"So..." Ghost began. "This didn't work out too well."

Carcer, the salarian, folded his arms."What do you mean this didn't work out? We killed these guys easily," he said.

"Little too easily, if you ask me," Ajax muttered under his breath.

"SRPA here got away with our friend," Ghost continued.

"Nice big waste of time then, huh?" JB asked. "Ah well. Least we get paid."

Ghost frowned underneath his helmet, and quickly opened the team's RIGlink. "They know they don't get paid unless we get him back, right?" he asked, obviously referring to their missing teammate.

"You know," Ricardo replied, "I'm gonna go ahead and guess no on this one."

Ghost rolled his eyes and went back to external speakers. "Mason, I want you to free that poor guy in the chair and watch him. Then I want you and you-"he pointed to Gara'Tul and Steven"-to check the bodies of these guys. See if you can find anything useful.

Gara'Tul turned and drifted back to the boxes without saying anything. Ghost never thought it possible for a quarian to be like...well, that, but apparently, one can never tell... Steven pulled out his pistol and gave it a quick once-over. "Roger that, Ghostie. I won't let ya down. But, uhh..." He leaned in close, his eyes visible through the thin visor on his helmet. Heck seemed to prefer the open-face helmets, though Ghost couldn't fathom why anyone would think that was better. "Can I kill anyone still alive?" Heck asked. "Please say yes."

Ghost looked at him sternly, the thin blue lines of his helmet showing no outward emotion. "No." Heck hung his head, then turned to follow the quarian while Alec hurried over to check on the tortured composer. Ghost shook his head playfully as he watched the men leave, then turned his attention back to the group. He had opened his mouth to speak when Amanda cut him off.

"When do we get paid?" She removed her helmet, letting her brown hair fall to about chin length.

"Ah." Ghost nodded once nervously. "Yes, about that-"

"Whoo, I got someone!" Steven's yell startled Ghost, and he hurried over to where Heck called from, eager to avoid that little discussion as much as possible. Amanda narrowed her eyes as she watched him leave. _That was oddly convenient._

Ghost jogged around a corner, and stopped when he saw what was in front of him. Gara'tul had a pistol placed against the side of a downed SRPA agent's head. The man was sitting up against a crate, both of his knees dribbling blood onto the floor. Steven jumped from excitement when he saw Ghost. "Finally, you're here!" He ran up and wrapped an arm around Ghost's shoulder. "Listen, buddy, lemme take care of this guy when you're done. Please?" Ghost looked into Heck's pleading eyes. "Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

Ghost laughed. "Who the hell says that anymore?" He shrugged Heck's arm off and crouched in front of the SRPA agent. The agent coughed a couple times before speaking.

"Echo 2. Pleasure to see you again," he said casually, like he wasn't bleeding onto the floor and surrounded by armed mercs ready to shoot.

"Ok, you listen to me, and you listen good," Ghost said, adding a hint of anger to his voice. "I want to know everything about you."

The agent laughed. "That it? Ok then. Grew up on a farm in the Terminus systems-"

Ghost ejected the blade on his right arm. "See this? Stop messing around."

"What, you think you can threaten me?" the agent asked. His voice dropped to a conspiratory whisper. "Why should I tell you about us when you don't know about yourselves?"

Ghost frowned, and glanced up at his team who had assembled behind him. Near everybody shrugged, not knowing what the agent meant. "Right, enough games," Ghost demanded. He grabbed the man's helmet and undid the clasps to lift it off. "I'll have to start hitting you-" Ghost froze when he lifted the helmet. The man looked up at him smiling. "Hello again."

Ghost stood up quickly, mouth agape. Steven poked his head into view. "What, you know this guy or something?" he asked. Echo 2 slowly turned to look at him, and then all the other contracted mercs. "Check the perimeter. Now."

JB rolled his shoulders back, tired of standing around. "And when we're done?"

"Then check it again," Ghost snapped. "Then a third time, and again, and again, until I tell you to stop." Nobody moved, uncertain of what changed Ghost's attitude. "Go. 100 creds more for each of you." That got them to rush off. It was barely anything, sure, but the work was barely anything as well. Ghost crouched down again, slowly this time. "Now then...what are you doing here?"

The man gasped in mock surprise. "So you do remember me! Oh, I'm touched." Ghost stood up and viciously kicked the man in the head. He went sprawling to the side, coughing again.

"I'll shoot you." Ghost drew his pistol and planted it right on the man's forehead. "Tell me what you're fucking doing here, right now, Victor."

The SRPA agent frowned for a moment. "Victor...?" He clapped his hands together. "Oh yeah, now I remember that name. It's the one I used for you guys."

"You're dead," Necro said suddenly. "Five years ago, we got on your ship, and got raided by batarians. How the hell did you end up here?"

"Victor" smiled. "We knew you were coming."

"We?" Ghost asked. "Who's we? The batarians?"

Victor shook his head. "Nah. SRPA." He coughed again, flecks of blood flying out his mouth. "We knew you were coming. My orders were to take you gullible kids into that trap."

Ghost shook his head vehemently. "There's no way batarian slavers would work with humans. Well, maybe, but-"

"I never said anything about them being slavers," Victor interrupted.

"Wait, so-"

"I took you to the batarians, mission complete. That was my task."

Ajax shoved his way forward, pushing Ghost to the side, then took out his pistol and smacked it across Victor's face. "We're not stupid, Victor. You're leading this on so obviously. You know more than you're letting on."

Victor grinned, showing blood-stained teeth. "Of course I do. But I'm not telling you."

Ajax dropped his gun, put his hands around Victor's throat, and began to squeeze hard. "You tell me the truth right goddam now, you son of a bitch." "Ajax!" Ghost barked. Echo 6 glanced up at Ghost, but ignored him otherwise. Victor struggled for breath for a few moments before trying to speak.

Ajax relaxed his grip, and Victor gasped for air for a few moments before turning his angry gaze to the Echo member in front of him. "You wanna know the truth? The truth is that we led you here. Every step of the way, we've been in control." He coughed violently, spraying more blood around then before. "My only regret," he said, his breath rattling, "is that I won't be around to see SRPA win."

Ghost made a move to step forward, but Ajax drew one of his blades and placed it under Victor's throat. "Last chance. What do you mean "every step of the way", Victor?" Victor laughed. or rather tried, because it set him off on another coughing fit. In the midst of it, he grabbed Ajax's forearm and shoved his head onto it, spearing himself underneath the chin and into the brain. Ajax reared back, surprised. "What the hell?"

"Dude, you killed him!" Ricardo announced stupidly. Ajax yanked his blade out of Victor's head, flicking the blood off it. "No shit I killed him!" He glanced down at the lifeless body. "He just grabbed my blade and did himself in..." Echo 6 looked up at his shocked team members. "Well, that's a first."

"A first?" Ghost asked, slightly outraged. "Our only lead is dead, and you're casual about it?" Steven chose that moment to poke his head around the corner and see the body.

"Dammit, I said I wanted to be the one to kill him!" he exclaimed. Flynn groaned and left the group to placate him while Ghost called for everyone to regroup, then focused on the topic at hand.

"Ok...well, this is certainly a situation we've gotten ourselves into," he said.

"Ya think?" Necro shot back. "Victor's telling us that SRPA was the one who threw us in that batarian prison?"

It makes some sense," Ninja said, stepping forward. "He was there, and we were very stupid to go with him. Desperate, but stupid. We never saw him die though, or the batarians even hurt him."

"But we met Z...dog and escaped," Ricardo mentioned. Ghost snickered at the use of Z-dog for Zaeed. "Why would SRPA go to the trouble of handing us to batarians if we were going to escape?"

"Who says they knew we'd escape?" Ninja asked.

Ghost stepped in to the conversation. "Alright, now is not the time to have this conversation. We need to figure out what to do, *and* keep these mercs from dropping out on us. We might need the extra firepower later."

Amanda stepped around the corner, her light armor accentuating the curves of her body. Ghost took a quick look. _Damn. Almost makes me wish I was older-ah, that's the hormones talking, focus! _"Ghost," she said, a light Spanish accent to her voice. "So, let's try this again," she said, ignoring the fresh corpse on the floor. "Our payment?"

The revelation about SRPA had completely gotten rid of any apprehension on Ghost's part. "We didn't get our boy back yet," he said. "Technically, I shouldn't pay you anything." He noticed Amanda's hand twitch towards her pistol. The rest of the team was oblivious to the sudden tension hanging in the air. "However," Ghost continued, "I'll go...triple the amount if you stick with us til we get him back."

Amanda's eyebrows shot up. "30K? Is there a twist to this?"

Ghost shrugged. "I don't know exactly when or where we'll get him. Could be a couple days, could be a couple weeks. We don't have any leads. Wait, leads..." Ghost smiled as he put two and two together. "Will you excuse me for a moment? I need to make a call."

* * *

16:45

Detective Ian Shaw stepped, ironically, through the hole in the wall into the ruined warehouse. The young man glanced around at the mercenaries dragging corpses off to the side, then made a beeline for the man in light blue armor. Jake turned away from his conversation with Evon as the detective approached. "Shaw," he said politely. "Glad you could make it.

"Yeah, glad to be here," Ian replied. "You know, cause being around all these violent mercs and corpses is just so fun."

Ghost rolled his eyes. "Oh, deal with it. You want SRPA stopped, we're working on it."

"Yeah. I figured as much from the bodies."

Flynn opened up a RIGlink with Ghost. "Right, please don't antagonize him," he told Ghost. "We're going to need his help figuring out where SRPA went." Ghost ignored him and kept on talking to Ian. "Ok, so they got away with Thunder again. We have-" He spread his arms wide. "-absolutely nothing right now. We wanted to see if you could find anything important."

"I'm so touched you thought of me," Ian said sarcastically. The detective looked around the damaged warehouse. "You're lucky I could keep C-Sec out of here. We don't have long though, so you better point me in the right direction so I can find something."

Flynn gestured towards the growing pile of bodies. "Feel free to search them. We've checked everywhere else and haven't found a single scrap to go off of."

Ian took a closer look at the bodies from where he was standing and quickly decided he'd pass on that. "Something tells me that these guys aren't stupid enough to carry around anything important."

Ghost sighed. "This is pathetic. We can't do anything around here. Our buddy's off held by the enemy, and the only thing we've managed to do right is to rescue that guy over there too late." He pointed to Art, who was being looked after by Mason. Art was still pretty out of it, and had to have so many applications of medi-gel it was close to dangerous, but he'd be ok.

"Jesus," Ian muttered. "SRPA did that?"

"Yeah," Ghost said quietly. "From what we understand, they did for no reason too." Ian shook his head sadly. "Listen, Detective. I don't know what we can do here. We have no leads-"

"What?" Flynn exclaimed suddenly. Ghost whipped around to look at him. Echo 3 looked up, obviously astonished. "This is, uh...I'm thinking another trap?"

"What?" Ghost asked. "Something important?"

"Well...yeah. Thunder popped up on the grid again." Ghost stared blankly ahead.

"What."

"I said-" Ghost raised his hand. "Yeah, I know what you said. But...it makes no sense. Why keep doing this?" Ghost fell to his knees and raised his fists to the sky. "Why do you torment us, SRPA?" Ian looked over at Flynn, and the pair just shrugged. "Well, fine," Ghost said as he got up off the ground. "Time to move again. Where's the signal?"

"Hanger bay," Flynn replied simply. Ghost punched his fist into his open palm.

"That's it. These assholes are not getting away again." He pointed to Ian. "You."

"Me," the detective responded.

"Sorry to order you around, but get somebody in here to investigate these SRPA guys, alright? We're moving out." Ghost spun his finger around in the air, the typical sign for moving out. Those who saw it dropped what they were doing and moved to tell those that didn't know.

"Wait, you're leaving?" Ian asked. "What about this mess?"

"Oh, you'll take care of it somehow," the merc replied. "Just say you found it like this."

"But-"

Ghost tapped the side of his helmet. "We'll be in touch!" He turned and jogged out of the warehouse, his team trickling in behind him, with Mason carefully carrying Art's broken body. Steven ran up alongside him. "Hey hey, Ghostie! Where we going?"

"Your place," Ghost told him. "We need to make a plan really fast."

* * *

18:00

"Space."

"That's what I said," Flynn replied.

"Space," Ghost said again.

"Yes. His signal. Is coming. From space."

"SPPPPPPAAAAAAACCCCCCCEEEEEEE!" Ajax shouted. Everyone in the room looked at him. "Sorry."

"How is it in space?" Ghost asked. "There's no way."

"Well..." Flynn opened up his omni-tool and adjusted his HUD in his helmet. "This is right. Signal's in space with nothing else even near it."

"Stealth ship, maybe?" Ninja interjected. Flynn shook his head. "No, we wouldn't be getting any signals then." He leaned back in his seat. "I can't explain it, guys. He's not moving, he's got stable lifesigns, his suit says he's using oxygen from an outside source, but there's no way he can be."

"You can't access any video feed?" Mason asked, actually curious about this situation. Again, Flynn shook his head. "No. That function's disabled on his end, which means somebody knows our armor too well."

"So what do we do?" Steven suddenly asked after being quiet the whole time. "Fly in and check it out?"

"I know what we should do," Ajax announced. "We go in there and blow the ship up."

"Who says it's a ship?" Flynn almost screamed. "It can't possibly be one!"

"It's SRPA," Echo 6 declared. "They can probably do what they're doing." Nobody moved or said anything. "Come on, guys, we don't have anything else to do."

"The man's right," Amanda told the group. "We either check it out, or we stay put. I for one, would like some extra cash."

"As would I," Gara'Tul agreed. Flynn threw his hands in the air. "Fine. Fine, we'll go take a look."

Ghost nodded his agreement. "Good. Faster we finish this, the better. I'll just...contact our C-Sec partner in this." Echo 2 stepped aside from the group and activated his communicator with Detective Shaw. It didn't take long for Ian to answer.

"Ghost, oh, I'm glad you called. Never thought I'd say that, but I am."

"Uhh...ok then. We have-"

"Hold on," Ian said, cutting Ghost off. "I've got an issue here."

"Give it to me."

"I went to go get a team of investigators, right? Not because you asked, but because the situation needed it. I made the request, and a few minutes later, I'm told the team's been cancelled. I call my boss, Pallin, and he-"

"Pallin?" Ghost interjected.

"Head of C-Sec. Not important. Anyway, I call him to complain, and he tells me to drop the subject. I keep pestering him, and, get this, he tells me to keep out of what I don't understand."

"Well, that's...corruption."

"No, I don't think so. He sounded almost afraid. I think SRPA's gotten to him, that's the only possible explanation I have."

"Yeah, I guess it fits. Welp, I can't help there really."

"Did you know you actually can? Surprising, right?"

"Great. Just tacking on to the to-do list, I see."

"I need evidence that SRPA's gotten inside C-Sec, or whatever their relationship is," Ian said.

"Sure. Like that's so simple."

"I know you're going around the Citadel hunting them, so maybe if you could-"

"We're leaving," Ghost blurted out. There was a significant pause on the detective's end.

"What?"

"The Citadel. We're leaving it. SRPA's pulled Thunder out, so we're following that lead." The seconds ticked by before Ian spoke again.

"Then I'm coming with you." Ghost burst out into laughter, holding it for a good half a minute before he calmed down enough to talk.

"Haha, oh...oh, you're serious, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Well, uh...why?"

Ian sighed. "The official reason I'm giving is that SRPA is a threat to the Citadel. I'm a detective, I hunt down these threats for the law to take care of. I can't let an organization the public doesn't know about stay secret if they're bombing buildings, torturing innocent civilians, and kidnapping people."

"Weak argument," Ghost declared.

"Hey, I resent that!"

"You said official reason. What's the unofficial then?"

"Unofficial? I guess...I don't know. This whole situation doesn't feel right. SRPA wouldn't be doing this for no reason. They're even covering things up with C-Sec help. I've got to find a way to stop that."

Ghost sighed. "You know that we could all get arrested for this, right? Us mercs?"

"As much as it pains me to say it, I can't get C-Sec involved. I have to handle this myself. And seeing as you're the only others helping...I think i mentioned that "enemy of my enemy is my friend" thing before, right?"

Ghost smiled underneath his helmet. "For a cop, you ain't bad, kid."

"Hey, I thought I said-"

"I know, I know, relax. As long as you promise not to actually arrest any of us for the duration of the trip, the moment we get back, or for anything you see us do on the trip, we'll be fine."

"Fine. I can live with that."

"Good," Ghost said. Personally, he was happy they had free help instead of paid help. "Now...what about Garrus?"

"Oh," the detective said simply.

"Yeah. Oh."

"I don't want to...we've been partners for a long time. I don't want to leave him, but...somebody needs to cover for me, and he'd never actually work with you guys. He's got a very strong sense of right and wrong, that's one of the things I love about him."

"Good point. I don't want to be around him either."

"Jerk."

"What? He's mean to us!"

Ian sighed. "That's just because you're..."

"Don't say it," Ghost warned.

"...bad people."

"Hmph. Better."

"ANYWAY," Ian said loudly. "I'll clear it with Garrus. I'll use up some vacation days I've saved."

"I assume you know where our ship is, being C-Sec and all."

"I might," Shaw said guiltily. "Meet you there in an hour?"

"Fine," Ghost agreed. "If you show up with cops though, we're going to have a problem." He then ended the connection. A fairly jerk move, but the conversation had gone on long enough. Ghost went back to the assembled mercs. "Alright. We have our ship." He gestured to the contracted mercs. "I'm assuming you have your own transportation?" Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. "Good. Get to them. Wait for my signal, then we'll go investigate Thunder's position."

"Finally!" Ricardo exclaimed. "I've been getting bored." Ghost rolled his eyes.

* * *

20:00

Ghost paced back and forth, getting more and more angry. He checked the time in his HUD again. _Hour late. An HOUR late! Where the fuck is he that makes him an hour late? _Of course right when he thought that, Ian and Garrus walked through the door to the hanger. "Finally!" Ghost yelled. "What took you so long?"

"We were busy settling things at C-Sec," Garus replied stonily. Ian glanced down at his omni-tool for a brief moment when the turian spoke, but quickly closed it and looked back at Ghost.

"If the two friends are done saying goodbye," Ghost said, "I'd really like to get moving."

Garrus walked up to Ghost and shoved a talon into his chest. "If anything happens to my partner while you're gone-"

"Yes, yes," Ghost said impatiently. "I'll let you handcuff me yourself or do whatever. He'll be fine." The turian stared angrily at Ghost before turning back to Ian.

"You be careful out there, alright?" he said. "I don't want to have to get a new partner."

"Relax, Garrus," Ian assured him. "I know you don't approve, but I have to do this. I won't be able to live with myself otherwise." Garrus sighed. "I know," he said. "Just...try and come back in one piece, alright?"

"Will do." With that, the human jogged forward in typical clothing. "We ready to go?"

"Only waiting for His Highness to arrive," Ghost mocked, throwing a fake bow in for good measure. Ian looked at him coldly.

"Just get in the ship." The two climbed up the ramp laid out from the ship's airlock. Upon entering the ship, the ramp lifted to a horizontal position, then retracted. Garrus backed away to a safe distance, and it wasn't long before the ship's thrusters ignited, lifting the Fury off the ground. The landing gear slid back into the ship, and the Fury turned to face the hanger doors. The engines flared, propelling Dead Echo's ship out into the cold blackness of space. Garrus silently watched the ship shrink to a dot before turning to leave and going back to his job.

**A/N: Ok, uh...I really don't have anything to say about this massive delay. It started out as something I couldn't control, but around November, I could have written, but I didn't. And it got pushed back and back and back til now. But hey! Dead Echo's back! (weakly cheers) To anybody who liked the story, sorry it took so long. It won't happen again. Anybody who's just joining, same thing. It'll be closer to a weekly/biweekly update schedule now. Thanks to any loyal fans who return to it, it'd mean a lot seeing those familar names reviewing.**


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